Having campaigned centrally on a return to diplomacy with North Korea, South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in has found himself awkwardly paddling against the current since he took office, watching as the US and North Korea continued to raise the stakes against one another.
Marking is 100th day in office, however, Moon appears to be increasingly assertive about his position, flat out ruling out any war on the Korean Peninsula in comments today, and reiterating that dialogue must resume at some point.
Moon even made a specific offer, saying that he was willing to send a special envoy to Pyongyang for talks if North Korea promised to stop testing missiles and nuclear weapons. There has been no direct response from North Korea, though officials from the country have suggested they are open to diplomacy if the US stops threatening them.
Moon warned South Korea didn’t believe they have to rush toward diplomacy, however, and that North Korea could face more sanctions if they continued with tests. These comments come just two days after Moon said he can and would “veto” any US war against North Korea.