FACT CHECK: Did The North Korean Military Choir Perform ‘Killing in the Name’?

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South Korea's new president says he will no longer appease Kim Jong Un, says recent attempts at peace with North Korea were a 'proven failure'



South Korea’s days of appeasing its neighbor to the north are over, as South Korea’s new president, Yoon Suk Yeol, said that any new talks between the two countries must be initiated by Kim Jong Un.

Yoon said, “I think the ball is in Chairman Kim’s court – it is his choice to start a dialogue with us.”

The North Korean government has recently resumed testing missiles, testing more so far in 2022 than in the past two years combined. CNN reported that Kim also recently vowed to “strengthen and develop” his country’s nuclear forces at the “highest possible” speed.

Nevertheless, Yoon said that South Korea and its allies are ready to stand against any acts of North Korean provocation.

Yoon lambasted his predecessor’s conciliatory approach to diplomacy with North Korea.

He said, “Just to escape temporarily North Korean provocation or conflict is not something that we should do. This kind of approach over the past five years has proven to be a failure.”

Yoon is a former prosecutor and a newcomer to politics. He consistently has emphasized the need for taking a stronger stance toward North Korea and expressed an ardent desire to strengthen the South’s military. Both of these approaches mark a significant departure from Yoon’s predecessor, Moon Jae-in, who routinely promoted amicable dialogue with the North and advocated for a peaceful reconciliation between the two Koreas.

Despite what some may interpret as blatant hostility toward North Korea, Yoon said that he didn’t want North Korea to “collapse” but that he also did not think the South’s communist neighbor should be emboldened to continue the development of its nuclear arsenal.

He said, “What I want is shared and common prosperity on the Korean Peninsula. I do not believe that enhancing [North Korea’s] nuclear capability is helpful and conducive to maintaining international peace.”

Throughout his campaign for the South Korean presidency, Yoon emphasized the importance of South Korea’s close security alliance with the U.S.

After Yoon’s recent meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden, the two leaders announced in a joint statement that they would begin discussions on restarting and potentially expanding joint military drills. This move is expected to anger North Korean leadership, as Kim Jong Un is expected to perceive the renewed exercises as a direct threat to his nation’s sovereignty

Despite Yoon’s hesitance to engage in dialogue with his North Korean counterparts, Biden insisted that he would meet with Kim if he was “sincere and whether he was serious.”

Joe Biden says he's open to meeting with Kim Jong Un during his trip to South Korea



President Joe Biden expressed an interest in meeting with Kim Jong Un should the North Korean leader have sincere diplomatic intentions.

Biden made this statement after meeting with the recently elected South Korean President Yoon Suk-Yeol. Biden said that South Korean and U.S. officials would soon begin holding discussions to expand joint military exercises as North Korea resumes launching missiles and testing nuclear weapons.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Biden said the U.S. and its allies would address the ongoing threat of North Korea “by further strengthening our deterrence posture and working toward a complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

The two presidents held a series of discussions as North Korea struggles to contain a growing COVID-19 outbreak which Biden said he was willing to help them get control over. Biden stated that the U.S. was prepared to provide vaccines “immediately.”

A White House official later clarified that the U.S. would not directly provide North Korea with vaccines but would instead provide them through existing infrastructure like Covax, a program financed by wealthy nations to help lower-income countries obtain vaccines.

The Biden administration reportedly made North Korean leadership aware of the offer to provide them vaccines as recently as last week. The administration also offered to provide the vaccines to the Chinese government who could then transfer them into North Korea.

North Korea, however, has previously rebuffed offers of Covid vaccines from Covax and has not responded to recent offers from South Korea to provide vaccines and other medical supplies. North Korean officials have accepted medical supplies from China, though.

When asked whether he would have any preconditions for meeting with Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un, Biden said, “That would depend on whether he was sincere and whether he was serious.”

And as North Korea’s government ramps up missile tests, White House officials play down the likelihood of Biden and Kim meeting. Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, met with Kim three times during his presidency and was temporarily successful in persuading the North Korean leader to cease developing nuclear weapons. However, without as aggressive an adversary as Trump, Kim has resumed his rapid paced development of nuclear weapons.

U.S. officials have warned of the possibility that North Korea could conduct more nuclear or long-range ballistic tests this month. Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, said that North Korean weapons testing would prompt the U.S. to ramp up effort to defend its allies and “cause adjustments to the way our military is postured in the region.”