A memoir by former South Korean President Moon Jae-in, published on May 17, is generating controversy. In the book, billed as a diplomatic and security memoir, Moon has been criticized for not addressing controversial issues during his tenure or for glossing over unfavorable aspects.
In his memoir, Moon refers to North Korean human rights, saying, “We respect human rights norms, but if we stand in the same line of condemnation, it will immediately hurt inter-Korean relations.” He adds, “The more difficult inter-Korean relations become, the more difficult the lives of North Koreans become. If you think about it from the standpoint of prioritizing the survival rights of North Koreans over political freedom, you cannot do that.”
Critics point out that the Moon administration’s decision to forcibly repatriate two North Korean fishermen who expressed their intention to return to North Korea in November 2019 is not understandable from the perspective of the ‘right to survival’ of North Koreans. Moon does not mention this incident in his memoir, which drew international criticism from the United States Congress for violating the international principle of “prohibition of forced repatriation.”
Moon also does not address the law banning the sending of propaganda leaflets to North Korea, enacted in June 2020 after Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, called for “a law to stop the clowning of scum.” The law raised concerns from the international community, including the United Nations, and was eventually ruled unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court.
Moon comments, “During the pandemic, North Korea reacted even more fiercely due to fears that leaflets and items in balloons could spread the coronavirus. The low-level North Korean leaflets make us ashamed of ourselves.”
In his memoir, Moon describes the killing of Lee Dae-jun, a Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official, by North Korean forces in September 2020 while he was adrift in the Yellow Sea as the “Yellow Sea Official Killing Incident.” He explains, “There was no way to contact North Korea at the time of the incident, so we had no choice but to use the inter-Korean communication channel. If the channel had been up and running, we could have done something but were helpless.” Moon does not criticize North Korea for shooting and burning Lee.
Suh Hoon, then head of the Cheong Wa Dae National Security Office, has been arrested and is on trial for allegedly covering up Lee’s disappearance and trying to frame him as “defecting to North Korea.” According to the prosecution indictment and audit report, Suh prevented the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Unification from being informed of Lee’s disappearance in the early stages of the case and ordered security to be maintained even after Lee’s death, calling it “a very bad case that had a very bad impact on inter-Korean relations.” He is also accused of directing that Lee’s disappearance be blamed on North Korea to prevent Moon’s speech to the U.N. General Assembly from being disrupted. Moon does not mention this in his memoir nor express regret or offer consolation for Lee’s death.
Moon’s government has been accused of making a ‘three bans’ promise to China in 2017—no additional THAAD deployment, no participation in the U.S. missile defense (M.D.) system, and no trilateral military alliance between South Korea, the United States, and Japan.
In his memoir, Moon writes, “The Park Geun-hye administration stated that there would be no additional deployment of THAAD. It has been the consistent position of the South Korean government since Kim Dae-jung’s administration not to enter the U.S. missile defense system and not to enter the trilateral alliance with the United States, South Korea, and Japan.”
He adds, “This became the three-bans position of the Park Geun-hye administration. Our government inherited that position,” attributing the responsibility for the ‘three-bans promise’ to the Park administration.
