[imText1]At a youth and university student rally on the 9th, Hwang Jang Yop Chairman of the North Korean Democratization League strongly criticized the government on the deteriorating Korea-U.S. alliance by saying “The government continues to proclaim ‘autonomy,’ however what kind of autonomy is it if the actions are to forfeit the country’s gains”
Chairman Hwang emphasized “During the Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592, General Chenlin who led all of the Ming-dynasty (China) passed the command of all combined fleets over to Admiral Lee Soon Shin. This was not only because Admiral Lee Soon Shin knew Japan’s weaknesses very well but also he was undoubtedly in an advantage on the naval battlefront. It is not right to divide operational power as ‘autonomy’ or ‘non-autonomy.’”
He said “If we are to fight as a unified force, it is reasonable to say that the one with who leads to victory in a war is the one with strategic power. In a war, the most important thing is to win rather than accentuating which position each party in the alliance is at.”
Considering that his participants at the rally were young, to help the students understand his metaphor, Chairman Hwang said “If our country can only be an autonomy with all the operational power, then why was Guus Hiddink brought in to lead the Korean soccer team?”
He highlighted that the issue of military operations is not an issue to be simply compared to wartimes and rather a case that directly affects the Korea-U.S. alliance. He said that any person who is trying to break the Korea-U.S. alliance by associating it with the issue of ‘autonomy’ is partaking in an act no different to national treason.
Chairman Hwang stressed “The U.S. played a great influence on the development of our country and taking the future into consideration, an alliance with the U.S can be said to be our lifeline. With the sudden circumstances and reconstructions in North Korea, as well as the issue of unification, Korea needs to balance its relationship with nearby powerful countries and must strengthen the Korea-U.S alliance if it is to continue to advance.”
