Jung Dong-young calls summit with Trump historic, dismisses alliance concerns

Unification Minister Jung Dong-young said Monday that the recent summit between President Lee Jae-myung and US President Donald Trump was "far deeper and more substantive than what has been reported, and I believe it will go down in history."

Speaking at a press briefing at Government Complex Seoul that morning, Jung said the meeting would eventually be recognized as "a milestone in terms of South Korea's national interest and autonomy among all summits held to date, once the presidential records are made public." He added that claims by some opposition figures that the alliance is being shaken or damaged are "not true at all." Earlier, President Lee held a 30-minute summit with Trump in New York on Sept. 22 (local time), on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

On the recent landmine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone, Jung said it was "the role of politics to ensure this never happens again" and called on the ruling and opposition parties to work together on prevention measures. "Ten years ago there was the wooden-box landmine incident, and ten years later we have the misfortune of our soldiers being injured in a landmine explosion," he said. "Preventing a recurrence is what politics is for."

He also said it was necessary to "zoom out and look at the full picture."

On the South Korea-US relationship, Jung said every country allied with the United States is engaged in a tug-of-war over security and trade. "The tug-of-war is based on two things: national interest and autonomy," he said. "We are no different. If we unilaterally accept 100 percent of what the US demands, that creates tension."

Jung drew a parallel with past administrations, noting that the Roh Moo-hyun government had also faced fierce criticism — with warnings that the alliance was on the verge of collapse — yet the two countries went on to conclude a free trade agreement, leaving the alliance fully intact.

He made the same point about the Moon Jae-in government, saying that despite widespread talk of an alliance crisis at the time, the two sides had worked hand in hand to advance the Korean Peninsula peace process. Jung went on to emphasize the current Lee Jae-myung administration's vision of South Korea as both a peacemaker and a pacemaker on the peninsula.