'Recalling Ukraine ambassador a serious blunder — only Russia and North Korea would welcome it'

Unification Minister Jeong Dong-young answers reporters' questions as he arrives at Government Complex Seoul in Jongno-gu on Thursday, having cut short a European trip following a landmine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone. [Yonhap]
Unification Minister Jeong Dong-young answers reporters' questions as he arrives at Government Complex Seoul in Jongno-gu on Thursday, having cut short a European trip following a landmine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone. [Yonhap]

The People Power Party renewed its calls Sunday for the immediate dismissal of Unification Minister Jeong Dong-young and National Intelligence Service Director Lee Jong-seok, warning that cracks in the South Korea-US alliance had reached a dangerous level.

PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok said in a Facebook post that day that "the alliance is moving beyond misunderstanding toward outright collapse."

Jang said Jeong "leaked combined US-South Korea secrets and took North Korea's side by saying the landmine attack could not be attributed to the North," and added that Lee's NIS "was accused of being the main culprit behind targeted suppression during the Coupang Inc. incident."

PPP floor leader Jeong Jeom-sik also held a press conference at the National Assembly, criticizing the Lee Jae Myung administration for "deliberately choosing actions that Russia and North Korea would welcome while inviting crises in the alliance across diplomacy, security and the economy." He said he could not help but suspect the government intended "to break away from the free world and align itself with the North Korea-China-Russia bloc."

Jeong Jeom-sik took direct aim at Unification Minister Jeong and NIS Director Lee, saying they "should no longer be called 'autonomy advocates' — they should rightly be called pro-North Korea elements," and stressed that "pro-North Korea figures within the government who are causing distrust among allies must be cut out first."

He particularly condemned Unification Minister Jeong's statement at a national audit session Wednesday, in which Jeong said the DMZ landmine explosion "cannot yet be identified as (North Korea's) attack," saying "if that is what Minister Jeong believed, he should have coordinated with the Defense Ministry before it publicly announced a clear armistice violation and North Korean provocation — this is ultimately an attempt to use his own pro-North Korea assessment to cover up the truth."

He also criticized the government's decision to recall its ambassador to Ukraine after Kyiv disclosed that North Korean prisoners of war had been repatriated to South Korea, calling it "an overreach and a serious blunder."

Jeong Jeom-sik said the recall "will also damage relations with the EU, which supports Ukraine," adding that "the only countries that would welcome the president's fury toward Ukraine are Russia and North Korea." He demanded to know "since when exactly did Israel and Ukraine become South Korea's main adversaries."

He went on to say that "President Lee Jae Myung has not uttered a single word about North Korea — the real adversary — provoking with landmines and erecting fences south of the MDL."

He called on the government to "completely scrap its 'tribute policy toward the North,' such as medical aid to North Korea," and urged it to "consider countermeasures against the landmine provocation, including installing loudspeakers along the border and imposing independent sanctions on North Korea's illegal cyber activities." He added, "Our allies will trust us only when we show the will to preserve at least a minimum of self-respect."

PPP chief spokesperson Choe Bo-yun also issued a statement that day, saying: "Lee Jae Myung's diplomacy takes a slap from Pyongyang and then glares at Kyiv — what on earth is it following?"


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