08 September 2017

News Story: Bareun Party whip slams Moon's security policy as 'big failure'

SEOUL, Sept. 7 (Yonhap) -- The floor leader of the minor opposition Bareun Party on Thursday decried President Moon Jae-in's security policy as a "big failure," highlighting his hitherto unfruitful approach to rein in an increasingly provocative North Korea.

During his parliamentary speech, Joo Ho-young demanded that the Moon government seek to secure its own nuclear retaliation capabilities and build a multi-layered missile defense system.

Calls for the president to retool his security policy escalated after Pyongyang tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) twice in July and conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear experiment to date on Sunday.

"The North's ICBM launches and the sixth nuclear test are the Republic of Korea's terrible security failures," Joo said. "I call on President Moon to directly explain to the citizens the current security situation, its implications and measures to cope with it."

Stressing the need to build its own nuclear deterrence, Joo said Seoul may pursue the redeployment of U.S. tactical nuclear arms, or seek to share the control of nuclear weapons with Washington in the way America has done with its NATO allies in Europe.

Seoul has officially dismissed any nuclear option, holding fast to its denuclearization principle.

Read the full story at YonhapNews