The Unification Ministry said Monday that "the government has maintained a consistent position of respecting the North Korean regime and not pursuing hostile acts, in line with the consistent stance of its Korean Peninsula peaceful coexistence policy," in response to a North Korean statement that criticized the Lee Jae-myung administration's Korean Peninsula peaceful coexistence policy as a "peace mask."
Unification Ministry spokesperson Yoon Min-ho made the remarks at the Government Complex in Seoul, addressing a recent statement by a spokesperson for the North Korean Foreign Ministry's Bureau 10.
"With the launch of the Lee Jae-myung administration, the government immediately halted anti-North leaflets and loudspeaker broadcasts and, unlike past governments, established firm measures to prevent recurrence through legislation. At the time of the drone infiltration incident, the government swiftly expressed regret, pledged to prevent recurrence, and prevented the spread of the crisis through revisions to laws and regulations. These demonstrated the will for peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula through sincere action," Yoon said.
Earlier, North Korea said in a statement on Saturday under the name of a spokesperson for Bureau 10 of the Foreign Affairs Department that "South Korea's ruler has thrown away the 'peace mask' he had been awkwardly wearing," adding that "our principle of dealing with South Korea as a thorough enemy state remains unchanged." The statement came after President Lee Jae-myung held a summit with the European Union on Tuesday and adopted a joint statement containing phrases such as "condemnation of illegal military cooperation between North Korea and Russia," "North Korea will not be recognized as a nuclear weapons state," and "substantial improvement in North Korea's human rights situation is needed."
"On June 14, President Lee Jae-myung said at a special Mass for peace and solidarity that he would do everything possible to prevent accidental clashes between the two Koreas, restore military trust, and build a sustainable peace regime," Yoon said. "The Unification Ministry will unwaveringly implement measures to restore trust between the two Koreas in order to support the president's will for peace on the Korean Peninsula."
