President Yoon Suk Yeol says human history shows that peace that depends on the good will of the other party is merely a dream and illusion. 

In an address to the full session of the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council in Ilsan, northwest of Seoul, on Tuesday, the president said true peace is established by overwhelming and powerful force and a resolute determination to use that force at any time to defend oneself. 

The remarks are believed to convey that the 2018 inter-Korean military deal exists in name only as North Korea is increasing threats against South Korea’s security, including launching a military reconnaissance satellite and restoring frontline guard posts inside the Demilitarized Zone.

The president said the North’s missiles and nuclear weapons are a means for the reclusive state to rally forces that safeguard the regime, adding the reason Pyongyang cannot scrap its nukes is because it believes such a move would fundamentally endanger the North’s dictatorship. 

Yoon said the North’s regime is aiming to offset South Korea’s modernized non-nuclear military force with its nuclear weapons and missiles while breaking up South Korea’s alliances and cooperation with other countries by threatening to use nuclear power, noting that such efforts are absurd.

[Photo : YONHAP News]