South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol has consistently taken a firm stance against nuclear-armed North Korea.
| Photo Credit: AP

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol called on March 1 for the international community to back “unification efforts” after Pyongyang earlier this year declared Seoul its “principal enemy”.

Ties between the two Koreas have been in a deep freeze as Pyongyang accelerates its weapons development programmes and Seoul ramps up military cooperation with Washington and Tokyo.

Mr. Yoon, who has consistently taken a firm stance against nuclear-armed North Korea, has rarely discussed the topic of unification since assuming office in 2022.

“Our unification efforts must become a source of hope and a beacon of light for the people of North Korea,” he said at a ceremony marking the anniversary of Korea’s 1919 uprising against Japanese colonial rule.

“We must come together on a path that leads ultimately to unification” of the Korean peninsula, he said, stressing that the international community “must pool its strength in a responsible manner”.

Mr. Yoon emphasised better ties with Tokyo were helping to counter the North’s ever-increasing military threats.

“The security cooperation between the two countries against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats has been strengthened further,” he said, adding that the countries were “working together to overcome the painful past”.

Last month, the North Korean leader’s powerful sister Kim Yo Jong said her country would be open to improving ties with Tokyo, even hinting at a possible future invitation to Pyongyang for Japan’s leader.

Her comments came after Kim Jong Un said in December that he would no longer seek reconciliation and reunification with the South, blaming Seoul and Washington for creating an “uncontrollable crisis”.

This year, North Korea conducted live-fire drills near the contested maritime border, prompting counter drills by the South and evacuation orders on two islands.

Pyongyang also declared South Korea its “principal enemy” and threatened war over “even 0.001 millimetres” of territorial infringement.

Mr. Yoon responded by telling his military to “act first, report later” if provoked by Pyongyang.

In the event of an attack, he said Seoul will hit back “multiple times stronger”.

The isolated North has shut agencies dedicated to promoting reunification and fostering communication with Seoul.

“The tyranny and human rights abuses of the North Korean regime deny the universal values of humanity,” Mr. Yoon said on Friday.

South Korea is gearing up for a crucial election on April 10, with Mr. Yoon’s conservative party hoping to regain a parliamentary majority for the first time since 2016.

South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol sounded a warning to fellow world leaders on September 21 about the recent communication and possible cooperation between North Korea and Russia, saying any action by a permanent U.N. Security Council member to circumvent international norms would be dangerous and “paradoxical.”

Speaking before the U.N. General Assembly, Yoon Suk Yeol invoked North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s visit last week to Russia, which is one of the five permanent members of the council, the U.N.’s most powerful body.

Kim met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Russia’s far east. The two said they may cooperate on defence issues but gave no specifics, which left South Korea and its allies — including the United States — uneasy.

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“It is paradoxical that a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, entrusted as the ultimate guardian of world peace, would wage war by invading another sovereign nation and receive arms and ammunition from a regime that blatantly violates Security Council resolutions,” Yoon told fellow leaders on the second day of the U.N. General Assembly’s annual gathering of leaders. He had been expected to raise the issue.

Yoon said that if North Korea “acquires the information and technology necessary” to enhance its weapons of mass destruction in exchange for giving conventional weapons to Russia, that would also be unacceptable to the South.

“Such a deal between Russia and the DPRK will be a direct provocation threatening the peace and security of not only Ukraine but also the Republic of Korea,” he said, using the acronym for North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. “The Republic of Korea, together with its allies and partners, will not stand idly by.” South Korea has expressed support for Ukraine, which is fighting a war against the 2022 Russian invasion of its territory. At the G20 summit in India earlier this month, Yoon said Seoul would contribute $300 million to Ukraine next year and — eventually — a support package worth more than $2 billion.

“The nuclear and missile programmes of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea pose not only a direct and existential threat to the peace of the Republic of Korea, but also (are) a serious challenge to peace in the Indo-Pacific region and across the globe,” Yoon said in his speech.

Foreign experts speculate that Russia and North Korea were pushing to reach arms transfer deals in violation of Security Council resolutions. Both countries are in major disputes with the West, and both are under international sanctions.

While Russian-North Korean cooperation is feared to fuel Russia’s war efforts in Ukraine, it has also encouraged unease in South Korea, where many think a Russian transfer of sophisticated weapons technologies would help North Korea acquire a functioning spy satellite, a nuclear-powered submarine and more powerful missiles.

On Tuesday, South Korean Vice-Foreign Minister Chang Ho-jin summoned the Russian ambassador to Seoul, Andrey Kulik, and urged Moscow to immediately stop its military cooperation with North Korea, which he said would have a “very negative impact” on its relations with the South.

North Korea has been increasing its nuclear arsenal for years, ratcheting up tensions in the region as it threatens to use nuclear weapons in conflicts. It regularly conducts missile tests, particularly in the past year.

In response, Yoon and U.S. President Joe Biden in April agreed to expand joint military exercises, increase the temporary deployments of U.S. strategic assets and launch a bilateral nuclear consultative group.