The floor leader of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party said Tuesday the party plans to send a special envoy to North Korea to examine whether it is sincere about denuclearization.
At a parliamentary speech during the ongoing March extra session, Rep. Na Kyung-won said the move by the conservative party is aimed at directly delivering a message to the North's regime without distortion.
(Yonhap)
"If North Korea really seeks to denuclearize, we will tell the Kim Jong-un regime that we are willing to provide assistance to North Korea in a bold and epoch-making manner," she said.
Her speech came amid speculation that North Korea may launch a long-range missile or a satellite-carrying rocket following the breakdown of the recent summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi.
Satellite imagery shows some restoration work at the North's long-range missile launch site in Dongchang-ri.
US news media also reported increased activity at the missile assembly facility in Sanum-dong, spawning speculation about the North's possible preparation to launch a missile or a satellite-carrying rocket.
Na said reports on North Korea running uranium enrichment facilities spawn speculation that Pyongyang seeks "bogus" denuclearization.
"If North Korea seeks genuine denuclearization, the LKP will cooperate in a bipartisan manner. But if that is a bogus denuclearization, we cannot do so," she said.
Na expressed concerns that the Moon Jae-in government's engagement policy with North Korea risks hampering the alliance between Seoul and Washington.
"I am really concerned that the allies are effectively moving toward a separation. We don't know when separation could become a divorce," she said.
Na also called on the government to recalibrate its North Korea policy, calling it a "risky gamble."
"It is urgent to replace the whole lineup on diplomatic and security affairs," she said. (Yonhap)
