Pyongyang Slams Lifting of South Korea Missile Restrictions as Hostile US Policy

The Biden administration’s lifting of restrictions on South Korea’s missile development program was a “hostile policy” toward Pyongyang, according to Kim Myong Chol, an international affairs commentator who was a close associate of former North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-il, The Hill reported.

Kim Myong Chol was referring to the summit earlier this month between President Joe Biden and South Korean President Moon Jae-in which the U.S. ended its 42-year-long restrictions on Seoul’s nuclear weapons, permitting the Asian nation to develop ballistic missiles reaching beyond previous limited ranges.

In Pyongyang’s first reaction to the summit, even if unofficial, the Korea Central News Agency said in an article, penned by Kim Myong-chol, that the U.S. is “engrossed in confrontation despite its lip-service to dialogue,” adding that “The termination step is a stark reminder of the US’s hostile policy toward the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] and its shameful double-dealing,” according to The Korea Herald.

The commentator continued that “The US is mistaken, however. It is a serious blunder for it to pressure the DPRK by creating asymmetric imbalance in and around the Korean Peninsula as this may lead to the acute and instable situation on the Korean Peninsula now technically at war.”

Some experts view the lifting of restrictions as Seoul gaining “missile sovereignty,” but others consider it part of the U.S. strategy to counter China and North Korea, which could add more tension on the Korean Peninsula amid stalled denuclearization talks between the U.S. and North Korea, as well as deadlocked inter-Korean ties.

Leif-Eric Easley, an associate professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University,  told The Korea Herald that “South Korean progressives often express a willingness to cancel defense exercises with the United States in order to focus on diplomatically engaging North Korea. But Seoul’s discontinuation of guidelines that had limited its missile capabilities may be a greater source of friction in pursuing peace with Pyongyang.  From Pyongyang’s perspective, this looks like an expensive arms race. The Kim regime will continue to complain about South Korean ‘hypocrisy’ and U.S. ‘hostility’ while advancing its own missile programs.”

In his commentary, Kim Myong-chol harshly criticized Moon for welcoming the lifting of the guidelines, calling it “disgusting and indecent,” adding that “Now that the US and the South Korean authorities made clear their ambition of aggression, they are left with no reasons whatsoever to fault the DPRK bolstering its capabilities for self-defense.”

South Korea’s Unification Ministry, in charge of inter-Korean affairs, on Monday said it will continue to carefully monitor  the reaction of North Korea. However, it declined to comment any  further on the grounds that the remarks from North Korea were attributed to an individual and not an official statement from the government, according to The Korea Herald.