S. Korea reacts to military strike worries
SEOUL, South Korea — Reacting to worries and conjecture spreading in South Korea of a possible pre-emptive American military strike on nucleararmed North Korea, the government sought to reassure citizens Tuesday that there would be no such attack without its consent.
Statements of reassurance from government officials came as a leading presidential candidate warned that no foreign countries, including the United States, should bring war to the Korean Peninsula.
Anxiety and rumormongering among South Koreans that the Trump administration would answer the North’s messages of nuclear belligerence with a military strike have intensified over the last week.
The anxieties were fed by President Donald Trump’s willingness to use force as seen in his missile attack on Syria, the redeployment of American warships near the Korean Peninsula and Mr. Trump’s own impatience with China over what he views as its reluctance to pressure North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un.
Mr. Trump added to the worries Tuesday with Twitter messages saying: “North Korea is looking for trouble. If China decides to help, that would be great. If not, we will solve the problem without them!”
Mr. Trump signed the message: “U.S.A.”
Earlier, Mr. Trump tweeted that he tried to persuade China’s leader last week to pressure North Korea to stop its nuclear program in exchange for a good trade deal with the U.S.
Tuesday, the United States and South Korea were conducting their biggest-ever military exercises. At the same time, North Korea’s Parliament convened Tuesday with a vow of a tough response to any military moves that might follow the U.S. decision to send the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier and its battle group to waters off the Korean Peninsula.
Although officials in South Korea have said the U.S. would never attack the North without first consulting the South Korean government, the confluence of events has revived fears of just such a possibility.
“The United States makes it clear that it will not take a new policy or measure without consultations with us,” Cho Junehyuck, a spokesman of the South Korean Foreign Ministry, said Tuesday when asked by reporters about the rumors.
Moon Sang-gyun, a Defense Ministry spokesman, also warned that South Koreans should not be “deluded” by unfounded rumors spreading online.
Moon Jae-in, a leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, in a Facebook post that was widely cited in South Korean news media Tuesday, issued his own warning against the possibility of an American preemptive strike carried out unilaterally.
“The safety of South Korea is as important as that of the United States,” he said. “There should never be a pre-emptive strike without South Korean consent.”
Mr. Moon is one of the two leading contenders, along with another opposition leader, Ahn Cheol-soo, for the May 9 presidential election to choose the successor to former President Park Geun-hye. Ms. Park, who was impeached by Parliament in December, was formally ousted in a Constitutional Court ruling in March. Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn is serving as an acting president.