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Former President Moon Jae-in and his wife, Kim Jung-sook, take part in an event marking the fifth anniversary of the signing of the Pyongyang Joint Declaration of September 2018 held at the 63 Building in Seoul’s Yeongdeungpo District on Sept. 19. (pool photo)

“You can see that progressive presidents like Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun and myself scored much higher on both national security and the economy. I’d like to emphasize that the time has come to set aside the concocted myth that conservative administrations do a better job on national security and the economy,” former President Moon Jae-in said at the close of a speech titled “The Strength of Peace, the Path of Peace” on Tuesday afternoon.

Moon delivered the welcome address at an event commemorating the fifth anniversary of the signing of the Sept. 19 Pyongyang Declaration at the 63 Building in Yeouido, Seoul.

Moon’s appeal to “set aside the concocted myth” explains why the former president — who has been living quietly at his home in the rural village of Pyeongsan in South Gyeongsang Province — decided to come up to Seoul to deliver his first public address since leaving office in May 2022.

“The Korean economy has always performed better when inter-Korean relations were more peaceful than when they were not. The national income has stagnated or even decreased at times when the government has suspended the relay race [toward improving inter-Korean relations],” Moon said.

“Nearly all economic indicators were better during my presidency than today,” he said.

Moon offered the following concrete figures to back up that claim: “The only times when Korea’s GDP has entered the world’s top 10 were when Roh Moo-hyun and I were president. Last year, the Korean economy dropped out of the global top 10 to 13th place.”

Also: “In 2021, my last full year in office, the per capita national income rose above US$35,000. But last year, the national income fell to US$32,000. People try to explain that away as being due to the exchange rate, but the very fact that the exchange rate has risen shows that assessments of the Korean economy have been getting worse.”

Those remarks were deliberately aimed at President Yoon Suk-yeol, who constantly faults the previous administration. Yoon has claimed that when he took office, “the country was on the verge of total collapse.”

Former President Moon Jae-in speaks at an event marking the fifth anniversary of the signing of the Pyongyang Joint Declaration of September 2018 held at the 63 Building in Seoul’s Yeongdeungpo District on Sept. 19. (pool photo)

Moon and his wife, Kim Jung-sook, entered the Grand Ballroom of the 63 Building, where the event was being held, at 5 pm. As the two were led into the room by Lim Dong-won, the honorary director of the Korea Peace Forum and chair of the event’s preparatory committee, and Han Wan-sang, the former deputy prime minister and head of the National Unification Board, they received a standing ovation.

The Democratic Party was represented at the event by Lee Nak-yon, former party head; Moon Hee-sang, former speaker of the National Assembly; Park Kwang-on, party floor leader; and Park Jie-won, former director of the National Intelligence Service. Several prominent mayors and governors were also in attendance, including Kang Gi-jung, mayor of Gwangju; Kim Dong-yeon, governor of Gyeonggi Province; Kim Yung-rok, governor of South Jeolla Province; and Oh Young-hun, governor of Jeju Province.

No members of the People Power Party or senior government officials were present at the event.

“Taking a long-term historical view, inter-Korean relations are currently stalled and regressing. But before long, the day will come when the five inter-Korean agreements” — referring to the Inter-Korean Basic Agreement, the June 15 North-South Joint Declaration, the Oct. 4 North-South Summit Declaration, the April 27 Panmunjom Declaration and the Sept. 19 Pyongyang Declaration — “will again be put into practice,” Lim Dong-won said in his welcome message.

“We need to keep resolving hostile relations between the US and North Korea and leading the way to denuclearization by working for peace and inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation,” Lim said in a remark that appeared to be aimed at Yoon.

“I have a piece of advice for the hard-liners and the cold warriors. They need to bear in mind that the biggest factor reinforcing the North Korean regime is not humanitarian policy or a peace-oriented approach, but hateful hardline policy pervaded by the Cold War mindset,” Han remarked.

Kang Min-kuk, the senior spokesperson for the People Power Party, released a statement Tuesday responding to the event.

“The reality facing us today in this volatile time is that the North Korea-Russia summit is leading to de facto military cooperation, threatening peace not only on the Korean Peninsula but also around the world. When Moon talks about the ‘economy,’ is he referring to the North Korean economy? His claim equating peace and the economy is laughable,” Kang said in the statement.

By Lee Je-hun, senior staff writer

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