S. Korean defense minister dismisses importance of N. Korea’s disparaging remarks

Posted on : 2019-08-22 15:49 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Jeong Kyeong-doo says “older brother doesn’t pick a fight with the younger one”
South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo responds to questions during a plenary session of the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee on Aug. 21.
South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo responds to questions during a plenary session of the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee on Aug. 21.

On Aug. 21, South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo addressed North Korea’s repeated bashing of the South Korea-US joint military exercises. “[North Korea] continues to use vulgar language, and I don’t see the point in responding every time it does,” Jeong said during an appearance at a plenary session of the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee on Wednesday.

Jeong observed that North Korea’s verbal barrage does nothing to weaken South Korea’s defensive posture. He continued by drawing an analogy with family life: “The older brother doesn’t pick a fight with the younger one even if he whines and whimpers.”

During the committee meeting, Jeong got into a nasty argument with opposition party lawmakers, rebutting their accusations that the South Korean military isn’t adequately prepared to deal with security threats.

When Liberty Korea Party (LKP) lawmaker Rep. Lee Ju-yeong took issue with the curtailment of South Korea and the US’ joint military exercises and questioned the legitimacy of exercises that don’t involve troop movements, Jeong snapped back, “If you didn’t attend the exercises, don’t disparage the troops.”

And when Rep. Lee Jong-myeong, also with the LKP, argued that the exercises had been downsized and funds spent in ways not authorized by the budget in an attempt to avoid upsetting North Korea, Jeong warned that the public could be misled by Lee’s remarks and complained that opposition lawmakers were trying to push him into a corner.

Jeong also said that the question of renewing South Korea’s information-sharing deal with Japan, called the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), was being “reviewed prudently and in great detail by the government.” When some lawmakers questioned the agreement’s effectiveness, Jeong pointed out that it was being reviewed carefully because some aspects were helpful and that otherwise it would simply be scrapped.

Jeong avoided responding directly to concerns that withdrawing from GSOMIA might weaken the trilateral military alliance between South Korea, Japan, and the US, merely saying that “all matters are under consideration.”

By Jung Yu-gyung, staff reporter

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