Jang Dong-hyuk "The president who gave up on national defense is no longer president."

Jang Dong-hyuk "The president who gave up on national defense is no longer president."

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Kwon Hee-won = People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyuk criticized President Lee Jae-myung on the 12th regarding North Korea's launch of a short-range ballistic missile into the East Sea, saying, "He is unable to say a proper word to North Korea, which is firing missiles, or to the United States, which is putting pressure on sending troops, and is only repeating the 'pacemaker' argument."

In a Facebook post that day, Representative Jang pointed out, "We must further strengthen our military's capabilities and unwaveringly protect the ROK-U.S. alliance. That is the president's job and the government's responsibility," adding, "But the Lee Jae-myung administration is constantly going backwards."

At the same time, he said, "The merger of the military academies is in fact a declaration of abandonment of the Republic of Korea's national defense," and sarcastically added, "The Minister of National Defense-designate agrees with the statement that there will be no problem with the withdrawal of wartime operational control tomorrow. Even if they chose, they chose someone who perfectly suits the administration's tastes."

Representative Jang emphasized, “To talk about national defense while reducing the power of the military, and to talk about peace while shaking up the ROK-US alliance is in itself deceiving the people,” and added, “A president who has given up on national defense is no longer president.”

Chief Spokesperson Park Seong-hoon also criticized in a commentary on the day, "The Lee Jae-myung government, which is consistent with 'fake peace' and a loose view of security, is increasing anger. Even though North Korea is openly escalating its military demonstrations and threatening the safety of our people, the regime's gaze is still stuck on unrealistic appeasement and a submissive view toward North Korea."

At the same time, he urged, "We must reorganize the strong ROK-U.S. joint defense posture and prepare resolutely and thoroughly for further provocations by North Korea based on our solid power superiority."