본문내용 바로가기 상단메뉴 가기

통일부

메뉴시작
주메뉴 닫기
Search
통합검색
주메뉴 버튼

South-North Relations

Important Events from 2009 to Present

본문영역

2021-08

writer
장수민
created
2021-09-08
hit
170692
Date Events
August 1.
  • Kim Yo Jong, vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea of the DPRK issues a statement.
    ・ “Those inside and outside South Korea are freely interpreting and inflating the significance of the restoration of inter-Korean communication lines, and I think it is premature and hasty to say that there is a public opinion about the issue of a North-South summit.”
    ・ “I think that (the restoration of the communication lines) should not be understood as anything more than the physical reconnection. Hasty speculation and groundless interpretation will only bring despair.”
    ・ “There have been no discussions on the scale or form of the joint military exercises, which are coming up at a crucial time….I view this as an undesirable prelude which seriously undermines the will of the top leaders of the North and the South, who wish to see a step taken toward restoring mutual trust, and which further beclouds the way ahead of the North-South relations.”
    ・ “Our government and military will keep a close eye on whether the South Koreans go ahead with the aggressive war exercises in August, or make a big decision. Hope or despair? It's not up to us.”
August 6.
  • The foreign ministers’ meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum is held (via video links).
    ・ (ROK Minister of Foreign Affairs Chung Eui-yong) “I welcome the North Korean representative’s participation in the ASEAN Regional Forum.” “The latest restoration of inter-Korean communication lines represents progress toward restarting the peace process on the Korean Peninsula.”
    ・ (US Secretary of State Antony Blinken) “The U.S. looks forward to a positive response from the North Korean representative to our proposal to meet anywhere and at any time.”
    ・ (Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi) “The upcoming exercise between South Korea and the U.S. is not constructive under the current situation.” “The UN Security Council needs to invoke the rollback terms of the resolutions on the DPRK and ease the sanctions against the DPRK.”
    ・ (North Korean ambassador to Indonesia An Kwang Il) “North Korea remains unmoved in its determination for the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula.” “The North works to ensure self-sufficient national development and security even amid the pressure from hostile forces.”
August 10.
  • Kim Yo Jong, vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea of the DPRK issues a statement condemning the ROK-US military exercises.
    ・ “The joint military drills are the most vivid expression of the U.S. hostile policy towards the DPRK, designed to stifle our state by force, and an unwelcome act of self-destruction for which a dear price should be paid as they threaten the safety of our people and further imperil the situation on the Korean Peninsula.”
    ・ “Whatever the scale and mode, the joint military exercises are of aggressive nature as they are a war rehearsal.”
    ・ “At a critical time when the international community keeps a close eye on the developments of the situation on the Korean Peninsula, the U.S. pushes ahead with the war rehearsal. The U.S. is the one who destroys regional peace and stability, and the US administration’s calls for ‘unconditional talks’ and ‘diplomatic engagement’ with the North are nothing but hypocrisy designed to conceal its ulterior intention of invasion.”
    ・ “For peace to take root on the Korean Peninsula, the U.S. should pull back the armed forces of invasion and war equipment deployed in the South. As long as the U.S. forces remain in the South, the root cause for periodic deterioration of the situation on the Korean Peninsula will never disappear.”
    ・ “In order to cope with the ever-growing U.S. military threats, we will further strengthen absolute deterrence, namely national defense power aimed at responding quickly to any military act against us as well as preemptive strike capabilities.”
    ・ “I take this opportunity to express strong regrets to South Korea’s act of betrayal.”
    ・ “I announce this statement by delegation of authority.”
August 10.
  • North Korea does not respond to the South’s calls (via the inter-Korean liaison office line and military hotline).
    ・ The opening calls on the hotlines were made as usual at 9 a.m. North Korea declined to answer the closing phone calls that afternoon on the military hotline (16:00) and the inter-Korean liaison office line (17:00).
August 11.
  • Kim Yong Chol, head of the United Front Department of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea issues a statement condemning the ROK-US military exercises.
    ・ “The South Korean authorities defied the opportunity to take a turn for the better amid unanimous expectations of all the compatriots at home and abroad for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.”
    ・ “We gave Seoul an opportunity to make a choice.”
    ・ “The South showed that the ‘peace and trust’ touted by Seoul was mere wordplay.”
    ・ “(South Korean authorities] opted for alliance with outsiders, not harmony with compatriots; escalation of tension, not détente; and confrontation, not improved relations.”
    ・ “We will make them realize by the minute what a dangerous choice they made and what a serious security crisis they will face because of their wrong choice.”
    ・ “They must be made to clearly understand how dearly they have to pay for answering our good faith with hostile acts after letting the opportunity go for improved inter-Korean relations.”
    ・ “It is clear that there is no other option for us as South Korea and the U.S. opted for confrontation with our state, without making any change.”
    ・ “We will keep going with what we should do.”
August 15.
  • ROK President Moon Jae-in gives a speech marking the 76th anniversary of National Liberation.
    ・ This year marks the 30th anniversary of South and North Korea’s joint accession to the United Nations. One year before that, in 1990, East and West Germany achieved unification after 45 years of division. East and West Germany built trust by exchanging good faith and intentions. They created a “German model” that upholds universalism, pluralism, coexistence, and co-prosperity. Moreover, by overcoming neighboring countries’ concerns about their unification through sincere reflection on the past, Germany has become a pacesetting country in the European Union, a leader championing universal values and standards shared globally.
    ・ Division is the biggest obstacle restraining our growth and prosperity and simultaneously a tenacious barrier to permanent peace. Like Germany, we can also remove this barrier. Although unification may take some more time, we can create a Korean Peninsula model in which the two Koreas coexist and contribute to the prosperity of Northeast Asia as a whole through denuclearization and establishment of permanent peace on the Peninsula.
    ・ The Northeast Asia Cooperation Initiative for Infectious Disease Control and Public Health is now discussing the possibility of sharing information and cooperating on projects such as the joint stockpiling of medical and epidemic prevention supplies and joint training of personnel to respond to COVID-19. Since COVID-19 is now clearly not a temporary threat, the importance of such cooperation has become all the more significant. While expanding cooperation, we will work hard to ensure that North Korea, a member of the East Asian community of life, can participate as well.
    ・ Firmly institutionalizing peace on the Korean Peninsula will definitely benefit both Koreas greatly. Most of all, the advantages that the Republic of Korea would be able to enjoy will be enormous once we shake off the so-called Korea discount and connect to the continent rather than exist as a virtual island nation. If we tirelessly envision peace on the Korean Peninsula, our imaginations can reach beyond it and spread across Eurasia. If we do not stop striving for reconciliation and cooperation, that tenacious barrier will finally crumble and new hopes and prosperity beyond our dreams will begin.
August 16-26.
  • The South Korean and U.S. militaries hold their Combined Command Post Training for ten days.
August 25.
  • Jo Chol Su, the director-general of the Department of International Organizations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea issues a statement regarding the UN report on the human rights record of the DPRK.
    ・ The statement is titled “Our State Takes Full Responsibility for Our People’s Life and Safety.”
    ・ “I cannot understand at all why only our anti-epidemic measures should be singled out as ‘human rights abuses’ out of the general anti-epidemic measures taken by all countries.”
    ・ “Contents and forms of measures taken to protect the life and safety of its own people are a totally internal matter that falls within the sovereignty of a given country.”
    ・ “An ‘excessive interest’ has been levelled at our perceived ‘human rights abuses.’ It gives us strong doubt that his personal views have been overshadowed by pressure from a certain power hostile to our country.”
    ・ “I take this opportunity to express my sincere expectation that the UN Secretary General will put an earlier end to the selectivity and double standard deeply rooted in the field of human rights, rather than impairing his international reputation for lack of prudence.”
August 21-24.
  • Sung Kim, the U.S. special representative for North Korea, visits South Korea.
    ・ Sung Kim met the Minister of Unification on August 24; and had a bilateral consultation with the Vice Minister of Unification and a meeting with his South Korean counterpart on August 23.
    ・ Sung Kim said, “The U.S. will continue to support inter-Korean humanitarian cooperation projects.” “The U.S. does not have any hostile intent against the North.” “I stand ready to meet my North Korean counterpart anytime, anywhere.”
August 21-26.
  • Igor Morgulov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and the top Russian envoy for North Korean nuclear issues, visits South Korea.
    ・ Deputy Minister Morgulov met the Minister of Unification and had a bilateral consultation with the Vice Minister of Unification on August 25; and had a meeting with his South Korean counterpart on August 24.
August 27.
  • The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s latest report says that there are signs that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) appears to have restarted its Yeongbyeon nuclear reactor.

 

Previous Post, Next Post list.
Next 2021-09
Previous Posts 2021-07