PPP says Seoul 'bypassed by ally, mocked by North Korea'

The People Power Party on Sunday sharply criticized the Lee Jae Myung government's foreign policy and security posture, citing the scaling back of joint South Korea-US military exercises and a string of North Korean provocations. The party also warned that the government's inter-Korean policy risks sending the wrong signals to neighboring countries, pointing to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's recent description of the two Koreas as "two states" during his visit to Seoul.

PPP chief spokesperson Choi Bo-yun issued a statement Sunday saying the government was "being bypassed by its ally and mocked by North Korea."

Choi said the Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) joint military exercise had been "cut in half by a unilateral order from US President Donald Trump," adding that "our government was excluded from the alliance's decision-making."

This year's UFS had originally been scheduled to run 11 days, from Aug. 17 through Aug. 27, but ended early Friday after just five days. Of 14 planned combined field maneuver exercises, only seven were carried out as scheduled.

Choi also took aim at North Korea's simultaneous provocations, saying Pyongyang had "mocked the government as being in a 'pitiable position'" while firing a missile into the East Sea. "What came back in response to an outstretched hand for dialogue was not a handshake but a slap in the face," he said.

He went on to say that "the rush to accelerate the early transfer of wartime operational control in this environment is dangerous," and warned that "the people will surely hold the Lee Jae Myung government accountable for its security incompetence and irresponsibility."

Kim Geon, a PPP lawmaker and former head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Korean Peninsula Peace Negotiations Bureau, said on Facebook that Wang Yi's use of the phrase "two states" to describe the two Koreas during his Wednesday visit to Seoul could not be overlooked.

Wang made the remark during bilateral talks with Foreign Minister Cho Hyun on Wednesday, referring to the two Koreas in Chinese as "two countries on the Korean Peninsula" and expressing hope that they would move toward peace and coexistence.

Kim said China had typically used expressions such as "both sides" or "inter-Korean relations" in summits and foreign ministerial meetings, and that Wang's phrasing was "not something to simply pass over."

He went on to say that "Unification Minister Jeong Dong-young has been pushing the idea of 'two peaceful states' without even coordinating within the government, and has stirred controversy by insisting North Korea should be called by its official name 'Joseon.'" Kim said Wang's visit "starkly shows that such moves only give neighboring countries an opening to refer to the two Koreas as 'two separate nations' without hesitation in official bilateral meetings with us."

He added that South Korea should reflect on whether, "by treating the issue of language lightly, we are undermining our own claim to North Korea as the foundation for eventual reunification, and eroding the constitutional principle that we pursue unification."