Top, from left, Hong Kyu-dok, Yoo Ho-yeol, moderator Son Gi-woong, Cho Gap-je, Lee Hoon and Lee Myung-kwon take part in a conference on South Korea’s unification policy at the Korea Press Center in Seoul on Wednesday. Bottom, panelists and attendees pose for a group photo after the conference. Courtesy of the Korea Institute for Peace and Cooperation
June 18 (UPI) -- South Korean security experts split sharply Wednesday over President Lee Jae Myung's push for inter-Korean dialogue, with some warning that engagement without stronger deterrence could leave Seoul vulnerable to nuclear coercion, and others arguing that dialogue remains the only way to reach the North Korean people directly.
The debate unfolded as North Korea continues to expand its nuclear arsenal and has formally abandoned its longstanding commitment to peaceful unification with the South. It came days after South Korea and the European Union issued a joint statement condemning Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs and its military cooperation with Russia, and after Lee asked U.S. President Donald Trump to take a leading role in resolving the North Korean issue during the Group of Seven summit in France.
The discussion took place at 5:30 p.m. at the Seoul Club on the 18th floor of the Korea Press Center in central Seoul, at a conference titled "Unification Discourse Must Be Critically Examined." About 50 people attended the event, co-hosted by the Korea Institute for Peace and Cooperation and the unification education program at Sook myung Women's University.
