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Blue House Spokesperson Ko Min-jung
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Mainichi Shimbun cites US official as saying Washington supports Japanese position
On Aug. 12, the Blue House denied a Japanese report that claimed the US supports Japan's argument on the issue of forced labor compensation. Blue House Spokeswoman Ko Min-jung told reporters, “A report by the Mainichi Shimbun where a Japanese government official cited a US government official saying that the US supports Japan’s position on the forced labor claims is not true.” Ko added that "South Korea and the US are communicating with each other in real time” and that the Blue House had received word from the US that the report is not true. An Aug. 11 article published by the Mainichi Shimbun cited a Japanese government official saying that the US supports Japan’s claims that the forced labor compensation ruling made by the South Korean Supreme Court went against the 1965 treaty on compensation between South Korea and Japan. The Blue House also criticized reports from some South Korean conservative media outlets that North Korean tests of new short-range missiles are a danger to South Korean national security, saying, “This is not in keeping with the facts and could worry the South Korean public for no reason.” “The level of weaponry being tested by North Korea is already in our possession, and in fact we’re several steps ahead of them. What I’m saying is that suggestions that we’re unable to defend against those weapons or intercept them are not factual,” a senior official at the Blue House said. The official also pointed out that the Moon administration was spending more on defense than the preceding conservative governments. “Our current defense budget is 46.7 trillion won [US$38.31 billion], which is up 8.2% from the beginning of this administration, when it was at 40.3 trillion won [US$33.06 billion].” “The fact that [the rate of increase of defense spending] averaged 4.1% during the presidency of Park Geun-hye and 5.2% during the president of Lee Myung-bak illustrates how much money is being spent on defense,” the official stressed. “President Moon himself has often spoken of ‘a peace that’s defended by strength,’ a message that we hope won’t be forgotten,” the official added. The official also emphasized that the South Korea-US joint military exercises that are currently underway are “part of an effort to recover our military sovereignty and improve our defense capabilities.” When asked about North Korea’s blunt criticism of the military exercises in a statement by its Foreign Ministry, the official said, “I don’t think it’s appropriate to respond to the nuance of each and every word. In the end, the North appears to have been expressing its willingness to resume working-level negotiations [with the US] once the South Korea-US joint exercises are over.” The North Korean statement had said, “inter-Korean contact is unlikely to happen until South Korea either pulls out of the military exercises altogether or offers a plausible explanation or excuse for them.” By Seong Yeon-cheol, staff reporter Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
