South Korea's President Yoon on Balancing Defense and Domestic Reforms

Q _ How concerned are you about a confrontation with North Korea in light of recent events?

A _ It is a well-known fact across the globe that the North Korean regime is irrational and unpredictable, but we have been consistent in strengthening our defense posture against the threat from North Korea since the Korean War , and I believe that their conventional capability is much inferior to that of the Korean military. That is why they are sticking to their nuclear programs and advancing their nuclear capabilities. However, based on our strong combined extended deterrence, we are prepared for any concerns or threats from North Korea. I would like to reassure the global community that there is no need to worry about them.

They accuse you of provocation. How do you respond and what measures would you consider for conciliation?

The reason that we are maintaining our defense posture and our readiness against North Korean provocation is to maintain peace. Since the birth of the Republic of Korea, my country has never intended to invade North Korea. Their accusation does not make sense, and Korea's GNI (gross national income) is 60 times larger than that of North Korea. In case of famine or natural disaster in North Korea, we have many times proposed to provide humanitarian assistance as the Republic of Korea's constitution articulates that the residents in the North are also citizens of the Republic of Korea. However, depending on their political need, they sometimes accepted our assistance and sometimes they refused.

In my address on Liberation Day in 2022, I made it clear that if North Korea embarks toward a clear path for denuclearization, we will provide a security guarantee and we will improve the livelihood of its people in a remarkable manner. We will provide audacious economic and industrial support for them.

Most South Koreans support development of independent South Korean nuclear weapons. What are your views?

According to polls, 60 to 70 percent of Korean citizens believe that the Republic of Korea should arm itself with its nuclear weapons . However, I believe that we should be very careful about this. We should think about the ramifications for the security of Northeast Asia and global security because that will cause the nuclearization of Japan and Taiwan , which will create even more of a security threat in the region.

The Republic of Korea will thoroughly abide by the regulations of the NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty). Having said that, based on the improved, increased trust between the Republic of Korea and the United States , on the occasion of my state visit to Washington, we elevated our alliance to a nuclear-based alliance.

Since then, we are taking measures at the working level, for example, through the Nuclear Consultative Group, which is an ongoing process to strengthen this partnership.

If North Korea intends to deliver its nuclear warheads, a fighter jet is not an option, a bomber is not an option because we have a much better air force. Their only option would be ballistic missiles. However, we have our capabilities and we are improving our capability to strike the launching point and to intercept their missiles and to strike their command and control centers. I believe that it would be irrational for them to decide to wage a nuclear attack against the Republic of Korea and should they do so the nuclear-based ROK-U.S. alliance will immediately strike North Korea with the U.S. nuclear weapon.

Western media say Kim Jong Un will be succeeded by his sister. Do you have different intelligence and what do you think of the likely successor's approach?

The North Korean regime is not stable enough to designate a successor of Kim Jong Un and actually do it. Maybe it would be a strategic move to seem like appointing and raising a successor. However, when we think about the actual succession of power from Kim Jong Un to the next generation, at this moment it does not mean a lot.

What is the significance of North Korean soldiers being sent to Russia for its war against Ukraine and how will South Korea respond? How does this affect South Korea's relationship with Russia and Ukraine, and what response would you like to see from other countries?

North Korea's troop deployment is a blatant violation of the international law such as United Nations Security Council resolutions and the U.N. Charter. Also, this action could further jeopardize global security by escalating and prolonging the war in Ukraine.

If Russia were to provide North Korea with sensitive advanced military technology in exchange for the deployment, and if the North were to train its military of over one million by applying modern-warfare experience gained from the battlefield in Ukraine, it will pose a huge threat to the Republic of Korea's national security.

With the close cooperation with the international community as well as close partner countries, the government of the Republic of Korea will implement countermeasures in a phased manner, corresponding to the level of threats against our nation.

In line with the Ukraine Peace and Solidarity Initiative, the Korean government has been offering the country humanitarian aid, reconstruction assistance and various other forms of support. Should North Korea's involvement intensify the conflict in Ukraine, we may first consider measures to help defend Ukraine.

South Korea has stood globally with other liberal democracies. How confident are you that they will prevail?

In the long term, the outcome of a war was always about the cause and whether the cause is just or not. In this regard, the cause of free and democratic nations is to defend ourselves, to defend our societies and not to invade others. In contrast, the authoritarian regimes, the autocracies, the reason they wage war is to solidify their domestic power. I have a strong belief in the victory of the free and democratic nations, and I will say it is not just a belief, it is a religion for me.

The solidarity and unity among free nations in the free world is a natural thing based on our common cause and common values. On the contrary, the unity between those autocracies is actually a unity of convenience.

Korea has done much to reconcile with Japan. How far can this go and what else needs to happen for this reconciliation to be fully realized?

In the 21st century, almost every country which suffered from imperialist rule now has a better and good relationship with the former imperialist country. I believe that this is some kind of a global standard.

I believe that this should be applied to the Korea-Japan relationship as well. Also, we now share a common security interest when it comes to North Korea's nuclear and missile threat. In case of a North Korean invasion against the Republic of Korea, the United States forces in Japan and the UNC (United Nations Command) Rear bases in Japan play a critical role and foundation for supporting the Republic of Korea.

If Japan can become a target of North Korean attack, Japan's security is also vulnerable and that is why it is imperative to strengthen the trilateral partnership among the U.S., Korea and Japan. The people of both Korea and Japan are very well aware.

Another important factor is our economic and industrial partnership. Our two countries can create a great synergy effect, because our industrial structure complements each other.

Most importantly, the businesspeople of our countries are really eager to have a stronger partnership between them. Next year marks the 60th anniversary of the normalization of Korea-Japan relations in 1965 and I believe that it will be a turning point to make more great strides in our partnership encompassing all areas, including security, the economy, industry, education and culture. To this end, both the government and the private sector are in preparation.

The Osaka Expo is also to be held next year so many Korean companies and Korean citizens will take part, which will further enhance our partnership in the economy.

The importance of Korea-Japan relations goes beyond our bilateral relationship. In the Indo-Pacific, it is really important for Korea, the U.S. and Japan to show a cooperative leadership to properly support our ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) partners and those still developing countries in the region. It is not about domination or projection of influence in the region, but it is about responsibility.

A lot of the rest of the world is looking at relations between North Korea and South Korea. But does reform take up more of your time?

Our foreign policy and domestic reforms are two sides of the same coin. I'm trying to make our foreign policy and domestic institutions meet the global standard. If we fail, the Republic of Korea will fall behind in the global community. Now we're experiencing the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the advent of artificial intelligence, a rapid pace of digitalization, but most of Korea's institutions—I mean labor, education, pensions and health care—were adopted during our industrialization based on heavy industries. To further develop the economy and to contribute to the global community as a responsible member, we need to make structural reform domestically.

I believe that it is now or never. Those tasks are long overdue. The previous governments feared unpopular policies. They feared that they might lose the election, so they delayed and postponed what should have been done before, but now we no longer have enough time. We cannot postpone this forever. In education, we need to make it match the pace of AI development and digitalization and to make it more practical. In health care, due to urbanization, the divide between the Seoul metropolitan area and other regions is becoming a severe problem, which deepens the polarization between regions. On the labor system, as industry changes and develops, we also need to make change in our labor system, not only in how we supply the labor to the market, we need to change the existing collective system to focusing on tailoring to different sectors, and to make it more flexible and ramp up our support for those who are vulnerable in the labor market.

We wanted to ask about the low birth rate. We know you are a dog lover, but do you feel that dogs have replaced children in the Korean family?

Reforms like pension reform, labor reform, education reform and health care reform are very important in order to solve this problem.

Education reform is about meeting the new trend of industrialization. It is also to ensure the work-life balance, work-family balance for Korean workers, especially women, by providing more government services to raise preschool children and teenagers. Labor reform is to give more flexibility in order to ensure that those who are pregnant, who need to give birth, can balance work and family. Medical reform is to provide health care to every mother and child, wherever they live. Pensions are because future parents think about the future of their own children when they retire. So we need to make our national pension service more stable, which will result in an increased birth rate.

What role will immigration also play in your economy?

We call those families formed by immigrants multicultural families so we're really increasing our support through our policy of inclusivity, by providing better assistance and education for them to learn the Korean language, Korean culture, so that they can be practically naturalized and become part of the Korean society. Along with receiving seasonal workers and industrial workers, we are planning to receive more people before they join the workforce in universities and at graduate schools. They study first in Korea and then remain to have a job here, which will contribute to the supply of a skilled workforce as experts in certain industries. We'll lower the barrier for skilled workers to obtain citizenship or residency.

The divide between men and women has been widening. How can that be addressed?

I believe that this gender issue is a consequence of the side effects of Korea's rapid industrial development and is similar with the low birth rate issue.

One of the fundamental reasons of the deepening gender divide is excessive competition. Women feel that they are discriminated against in the workforce.

It is important to resolve the over-competition of Korean society. We need to work toward providing a better atmosphere, to ensure that, for example, marriage or child care is not a barrier for women's promotion or career. So that would be something that can resolve both the issue of gender divide and low birth rate at the same time but is also about culture and the social atmosphere­—especially the perception of men in Korean society. I think the gender issue is not just about the departments that take care of issues of women or family welfare, but also about culture. The Korean government as a whole, including the Department of Culture, should work to change the atmosphere in Korean society, for example in the media. We should also promote a more mature atmosphere about gender equality. I believe it is an overall and integrated approach with a package of solutions to solve this issue.

I believe labor reform is also one of the solutions. In the current system to achieve industrialization based on heavy industries, what mattered was how skilled the worker is. That resulted in the assumption that the longer a worker worked, the more skilled that worker would be. So we promoted those who worked longer. We paid more to those who worked longer.

However, in this new era of fourth industrialization, in the era of AI and digitalization, it is more about expertise and creativity, which means that even though a woman leaves the office for several years because of marriage and child care, that does not mean that she loses her expertise or creativity. We should not discriminate against that woman when she comes back to the office by putting her on the bottom of the list for promotion. We should focus on the ability and creativity of the individual.

These kind of problems have existed for 30 years. Previous administrations always thought about regional elections, general elections, their own approval ratings, so they hesitated and did not take action. Now those problems have accumulated and deteriorated for three decades. I have no choice. I have no time to think about my approval rating or a midterm election, but I should get things done within my presidency, within my tenure. I need to solve this problem before I finish my term.

My duty as president is not about making a certain percentage point of GDP growth, but about unleashing the potential of the Korean economy, providing the real driving engine that will operate, not only during the time of my successor, but the next presidents to come.

A series of accusations have been made against the first lady. How do you respond to these and how does this affect reforms?

The first ladies of previous administrations have also been caught up in controversies. The wife of former President Moon Jae-in caused a stir by using the presidential plane to travel to the Taj Mahal in India unaccompanied by her husband, and the wife of the late former President Roh Moo-hyun was suspected of having accepted a bribe.

Korea is probably not the only country in the world to hold the first lady to strict standards. At the same time, it is also true that the controversy surrounding my wife has become overblown due to the opposition parties' excessive attempts to politicize this matter.

The prosecution invested extensive investigative resources and spent a considerable time investigating the related accusations, dating back to the previous administration. Both cases were dropped, with no charges filed. Nonetheless, the opposition parties are pushing for the appointment of a special prosecutor, which is nothing more than a political offensive and is regrettable. A special prosecutor is appointed when there are credible allegations of misconduct or breach of impartiality by prosecutors—which is not the case in this instance.

During the press conference held last May, I sincerely apologized to our Korean citizens for the concerns that my wife's unwise conduct has caused.

If there is a political cost, I am prepared to bear it. The four major reforms are essential for the Republic of Korea's future. I will push towards those changes and steadily move forward.

Are you confident that you can make the reforms happen?

My answer is yes. Next month is the turning point of my presidency. I'm coming halfway. So I believe that though it wouldn't be a completion of all policies, I will set a robust framework which will enable the next administration to finish all of this.