SEOUL– President Moon Jae-in ordered his national security team Tuesday to comprehensively analyze North Korea’s intentions behind its latest missile launch and statements, issued a few days earlier, on inter-Korean relations.
He issued the call after receiving a briefing on the outcome of an emergency National Security Council (NSC) session from Suh Hoon, director of national security, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Park Kyung-mee.
Earlier in the day, North Korea test-fired a short-range missile toward the East Sea, the South’s military said without specifying whether it was a ballistic one.
The president told Suh, who serves as his national security adviser, to conduct a “comprehensive and close analysis” of the missile firing and its recent statements to map out ways to cope with the security situation, Park said in a brief press release.
Moon was referring to the back-to-back statements of Kim Yo-jong, sister of the North’s leader Kim Jon-un, in which she said Pyongyang would consider declaring a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War, as proposed by Moon, and holding summit talks with the South, if Seoul restores mutual trust. Kim, who holds a senior position in the North’s regime, stopped short of providing details of what Pyongyang wants.
Meanwhile, the NSC expressed “regret” over the missile launch, saying it came at a time when the stabilization of the Korean Peninsula security situation is very important.
During an interview with YTN Radio later in the day, Park Soo-hyun, senior Cheong Wa Dae secretary for public communication, said analysis was under way to figure out the North’s intentions.
“We will have to know more about the missile to understand the North’s intentions,” he said, urging Pyongyang to respond to Seoul’s phone calls via their hotlines.
Source: Yonhap News Agency