Yoon Seok-yeol's 'Internationalization of Free Unification' Violates Camp David's 'Promotion of Democracy in Trilateral Consultation'

Yoon Seok-yeol's 'Internationalization of Free Unification' Violates Camp David's 'Promotion of Democracy in Trilateral Consultation'

President Yoon Seok-yeol's Liberation Day 'Free Unification' Declaration violates the Camp David Agreement of the ROK-US-Japan Summit by 'spreading the idea of ​​freedom to the international community', unlike the principles of 'security cooperation' and 'promotion of democracy'.
The 1st Anniversary Statement of the Camp David Declaration stated, "We keep our promise to consult on challenges, provocations, and threats in the region that affect our common interests and security," and positively evaluated the achievements of the three countries over the past year, including their response to North Korea, on the 17th.
On the other hand, President Yoon's 'Declaration of Free Unification' on Liberation Day on the 15th omitted the trilateral consultation, and unlike the 'promotion of democracy' that is the core of the 'declaration' of the trilateral agreement, it is 'spreading the idea of ​​freedom to North Korea and the international community', so it is off the rails. On the 16th, Minister of Unification Kim Young-ho stated regarding the ‘Liberation Day Doctrine Freedom Unification Declaration’ that “the three core strategies are to solidify the value of freedom domestically, promote the desire for freedom and unification of North Korean residents, and secure international support for freedom and unification,” thereby formalizing ‘the expansion of international support for freedom and unification’ in the ‘strengthening of the domestic right wing’ and the enforcement of the right-wing system.
The Camp David Declaration of the Trilateral Summit was agreed upon and signed based on the principles of ‘promoting democracy’ and ‘prioritizing dialogue with North Korea.’
The ‘support for a free and peaceful unified Korean Peninsula’ agreed upon by the three countries is fundamentally different from ‘liberal unification,’ and President Yoon intentionally distorted the Liberation Day Declaration by saying that ‘the Camp David Agreement supported freedom and unification.’ The joint statement of the three leaders, “The Spirit of Camp David: Joint Statement of Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the United States,” announces the commitment of the three governments to “coordinate our responses to regional challenges, provocations, and threats that affect our common interests and security. Through these consultations, we intend to share information, align messages, and coordinate response actions.”

The core agreement is “prompt consultation, align messages, and coordinate responses.” The “Joint Statement” specifically states that “we will strengthen cooperation to promote democracy and protect human rights,” and “we express support for the goals of the Republic of Korea’s bold vision and support a free and peaceful unified Korean Peninsula.” It also supports “large-scale support and medical facility support when participating in denuclearization negotiations,” and this completely contradicts the concept of “unification based on the ideology of freedom.”

President Yoon’s “Bold Plan” on August 15, 2022 was publicly rejected by North Korea through the “Kim Yo-jong Statement” (August 19), stating that “the ‘Bold Plan’ is a copy of the (Lee Myung-bak administration’s) ‘denuclearization, openness, and 3000’ that Lee Myung-bak’s traitorous predecessors had touted and then discarded as a product of fratricide.”

Professor Greg Brzezinski of George Washington University told Voice of America (VOA) on the 16th that “many of the contents of the doctrine could potentially cause concern to the North Korean leadership, especially the concept of ‘unification based on freedom.’ It is more like a wish list. Asking North Korea to open up and take steps toward denuclearization is just what South Korea wants to see, and there is no real sign that the North Korean government is accepting it.”

Regarding President Yoon’s declaration of “free unification” and “spreading freedom to North Korean people” on Liberation Day, VOA reported that “as of the 16th, North Korea’s state-run media outlets such as the Korean Central News Agency and the Rodong Sinmun have not responded to President Yoon’s announcement.”
Former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Evans Revere told VOA that “there are many contents in the new doctrine that North Korea may find unpleasant,” and that “in particular, they will react negatively to the ‘unified liberal democratic nation.’”
Former National Intelligence Analyst for North Korea at the U.S. National Intelligence Council (NIC), Saadni Seiler, told VOA that President Yoon’s unification doctrine “presented a vision for the future in which a unified liberal democratic nation is established throughout the Korean Peninsula,” referring to “liberal unification.”

Bruce Klingner, a senior researcher at the Heritage Foundation, an organization that provides ideological strategies for the Yoon Seok-yeol regime, said, “The two systems of the South and the North cannot be averaged in terms of human rights, economic policy, freedom, and democracy,” and added, “If we want freedom and democracy, we must expand what exists in South Korea to North Korea, and this will improve the lives of North Korean residents.” He spoke of the “North Korea Expansion Strategy for Free Unification.”
In a briefing on the 15th, Deputy Director of National Security Kim Tae-hyo explained that the “August 15 Unification Doctrine” was a “supplement” to the National Community Unification Plan, taking into account changes in the international order.
On the other hand, Minister of Unification Kim Young-ho stated on the 16th, “The three core strategies are to solidify the value of freedom domestically, promote the North Korean people’s desire for free unification, and secure international support for free unification,” and announced the “establishment of an extreme right-wing system.”

The 1994 National Community Unification Plan of the Kim Young-sam regime, which became the basis for the ‘Free Unification Doctrine’ officially announced by Vice Minister Kim Tae-hyo, is centered on a ‘step-by-step approach’ to reconciliation and cooperation, South-North union, and completion of a unified state, while President Yoon’s ‘Free Unification’ is a direct attempt at a strategy to ‘instill liberalism in the North Korean people.’