Unification Minister Jeong Dong-young Proposes NSC Discussion on Nuclear Freeze and 'Enemy' Designation

Unification Minister Jeong Dong-young has proposed that North Korea's nuclear freeze should be pursued first to resolve the nuclear issue. He stated that President Lee Jae-myung, while briefing on the results of his European tour and G7 summit attendance at the Cheong Wa Dae press center, mentioned that it is time for U.S. President Donald Trump to negotiate with North Korea on halting further production of nuclear materials and additional missile development. He also revealed that he directly requested President Trump to make realistic proposals that North Korea could find agreeable.

Regarding the expression 'The North Korean regime and its military are our enemies,' which is specified in the Defense White Paper, Minister Jeong stated, "It needs to be discussed and revised at the NSC (National Security Council)." He added, "The Lee Jae-myung administration is a successor government of a democratic administration, not a successor to the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's hostile and confrontational policies." This contrasts with a statement made by a Ministry of National Defense official the previous day, who affirmed, "Our stance that the North Korean regime and its military are our enemies remains unchanged." This remark came immediately after the Ministry of National Defense denied media reports suggesting the expression might be deleted from the Defense White Paper, scheduled for publication at the end of the year.

At the launching ceremony that day, alongside Minister Jeong were Seoul Superintendent of Education Jeong Geun-sik and Bang Yong-seung, head of the Secretariat of the Advisory Council on Democratic and Peaceful Unification. Approximately 250 newly appointed members of the Peaceful Unification Democratic Education Committee also attended. In his opening address, Minister Jeong outlined a goal to deliver peace, unification, and democracy education for at least 5 million youths and students once a year, and mentioned plans to expand the committee from its current 4,000 members to 10,000. In relation to this, he also conveyed his intention to request the Ministry of Education to restore the song 'Our Wish,' which was removed from textbooks in the late 2000s.