The Presidential Office said Friday that "the government will consistently pursue a policy of peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula with a long-term perspective," after North Korea pushed back against a joint statement adopted at the Korea-European Union (EU) summit. The joint statement, released by President Lee Jae-myung on the occasion of his summit with the EU during his European tour, included strong language condemning North Korea-Russia military cooperation and calling for North Korea's denuclearization.
A Presidential Office official reaffirmed this position on the day, explaining that "the EU also supports our government's policy for easing tensions and establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula."
North Korea's Foreign Ministry said the previous day, in connection with the Korea-EU joint statement adopted during President Lee Jae-myung's European tour, that "the ruler of South Korea has thrown off the cumbersome 'mask of peace' he had been wearing," adding, "Whatever the Seoul authorities say or do, it is a challenge to us, and our principle of dealing with South Korea as a thoroughly hostile state remains unchanged."
Meanwhile, a senior Presidential Office official, meeting with reporters at the Rome press center Wednesday, stressed that "there is nothing new," emphasizing that it was "at the level of reaffirming the principles the existing government has stated in the international community." Regarding the wording in the Korea-EU joint statement condemning North Korea-Russia military cooperation, the official explained, "The joint statement with the EU is a document that comprehensively addresses not only bilateral relations but also major international issues," adding, "The content contained in the joint statement organizes positions we have already declared and committed to in the international community."
Some have interpreted the phrase "strongly condemn" included in the joint statement as the first time the Lee Jae-myung government has used the word "condemn," but this too is an overinterpretation, the official suggested. In fact, on October 22, 2024, when the National Intelligence Service publicly confirmed that North Korean troops had been deployed to Russia, the Presidential Office held an emergency standing committee meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) and stated that "North Korea's deployment of troops to Russia is a serious security threat to the international community" and that it "strongly condemns this." The Presidential Office's logic was that the joint statement reaffirmed the existing "Republic of Korea" government position that North Korea-Russia military cooperation threatens international security and violates United Nations Security Council resolutions.
