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South Korean President Moon Jae-in

South Korean President Moon Jae-in delivered an administrative policy speech before the National Assembly in which he addressed the stagnation in inter-Korean relations in the wake of the Sept. 22 shooting of a South Korean fisheries official in the West Sea. Acknowledging that the South Korean public “must be very concerned,” he reiterated that achieving peace on the Korean Peninsula was the “historical mission assigned to us.”

Delivering an administrative policy speech on Oct. 28 with the submission of the 2021 budget before the National Assembly, President Moon said, “The past three-and-a-half years have been a time of challenges, of eliminating the threat of war on the Korean Peninsula and becoming a peninsula of peace and prosperity.”

“While there has been much progress, dialogue has once again been suspended, and the people of South Korea must be very concerned about the recent death of one of our citizens in the West Sea,” he continued.

He went on to say that the government would “transparently bring the facts to light and fulfill its responsibility,” adding that “these events have been an opportunity for reaffirming the urgent need for a peace regime.”

“Peace is the path to coexistence for both South and North Korea,” he stressed, adding that it represented a “historical mission assigned to all of us.”

In connection with the West Sea slaying, the Blue House held an emergency meeting of security-related Cabinet ministers on Sept. 27 to request a “joint investigation to swiftly investigate the matter due to differences in the circumstances and facts of the incident as determined by South and North Korea.” North Korea has yet to give any particular response. Moon’s speech on Oct. 28 did not include any specific mention of a declaration ending the Korean War, which he has recently stressed the importance of on numerous occasions.

By Gil Yun-hyung, staff reporter

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