According to Yonhap News Agency, Minister Jeong made these remarks on June 19 during a press conference at the National Institute for Peaceful Unification in northern Seoul, ahead of the Ministry of National Defense's publication of the Defense White Paper. He was responding to questions regarding the characterization of North Korea as an enemy.
The previous administrations of Roh Moo-hyun and Moon Jae-in did not explicitly label North Korea as an enemy. However, the Yoon Suk-yeol administration reinstated the phrase "the North Korean regime and military are our enemies" in the 2022 Defense White Paper.
While he refrained from directly answering whether this expression should be revised, Jeong emphasized, "The Lee Jae-myung administration is a continuation of democratic governance, not a successor to the hostile and confrontational policies of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration."
Earlier, a Defense Ministry official denied media reports suggesting that the phrase "the North Korean regime is our enemy" might be removed from the upcoming Defense White Paper, asserting that the position remains unchanged: "The North Korean regime and military are our enemies."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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