Justice Party lawmaker lashes out at criticism of Moon Chung-in

Posted on : 2017-06-22 14:47 KST Modified on : 2017-06-22 14:47 KST
Kim Jong-dae decries “three slaps in the face” from US experts, the conservative South Korean media, and Chinese experts
Justice Party lawmaker Kim Jong-dae
Justice Party lawmaker Kim Jong-dae

Justice Party lawmaker Kim Jong-dae blasted the South Korean media for “singling out and bashing” presidential aide on unification, foreign affairs, and security Moon Chung-in.

Kim, who returned to South Korea early in the morning on June 21 after accompanying Moon on a US visit, posted a Facebook message that evening responding to criticisms from the conservative media and political opposition over Moon’s suggestion that joint military exercises with the US could be scaled down if North Korea halts its nuclear program.

“Did he really say something we’re just not allowed to say?” Kim asked.

Kim also share shared details about the “total disregard for South Korea” in remarks made by US experts during a seminar on the South Korea-US alliance held in Washington on June 15. Following Moon‘s talks, Princeton University professor Gilbert Rozman, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) senior vice president Michael Green, and others bluntly criticized South Korea’s reconsideration of the THAAD deployment as “breaking the alliance,” while mocking Moon’s claims as a presidential candidate that Seoul would be a “mediator between Washington and Beijing” by asking, “What kind of mediating is South Korea going to do when the US is already in close conversation with China?”

“They even attacked South Korea’s stance as ‘taking cues from Beijing’ and an ‘attempt to exit the South Korea-US-Japan strategic alliance,’” Kim reported.

Kim also went after the South Korean press for its claims that Moon’s remarks were “damaging” to the South Korea-US alliance.

“Nobody’s saying they have to throw their support between the new South Korean administration, but [the South Korean media] is singling Moon Chung-in out for bashing,” he said.

“We need to do something about this now. We’re not some weaklings that are just going to shrink from this,” he added.

Kim used the term “three slaps in the face” to describe the response from the US experts, the South Korean media, and Chinese experts who accused South Korea of “pressuring us with THAAD talk” at a discussion on South Korea-China relations early this month.

After this return, Kim appeared on YTN radio to describe Moon’s remarks as “explaining about the house he built as architect of the Moon Jae-in administration’s foreign affairs and national security.”

“Whether or not we continue along these lines is up to the landlord, President Moon Jae-in,” he added.

By Song Kyung-hwa, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

button that move to original korean article (클릭시 원문으로 이동하는 버튼)

Most viewed articles