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S.Korean political heavyweight demands Park distance herself from security affairs

Xinhua, November 26, 2016 Adjust font size:

A South Korean political heavyweight in the opposition bloc on Saturday demanded President Park Geun-hye distance herself from security affairs, referring to decision to deploy the U.S. missile shield in South Korean soil and the signing of a military intelligence pact with Japan.

Moon Jae-in, former chairman of the biggest opposition Minjoo Party, told a meeting with people in Seoul that President Park must divorce herself from issues on the military intelligence accord with Japan, the deployment of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and the state-authored history textbook.

The worst policy, advocated by President Park and her predecessor Lee Myung-bak, was the destruction of relations with the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK), Moon said while urging the embattled president to let next government decide on the security issues, according to local media reports.

Seoul and Tokyo formally signed the bilateral pact earlier this week to share military intelligence on the DPRKs nuclear and missile programs despite public and parliamentary oppositions to the treacherous deal with Japan that has yet to sincerely apologize for past brutalities during its 1910-45 colonization of the Korean Peninsula.

In July, the Park administration jointly announced an agreement with the U.S. counterpart to install one THAAD battery in southeast South Korea by the end of next year.

President Park has also pushed the adoption of state-authored history textbooks, which many expected to beautify the Japanese colonization and the military dictatorships that last for about three decades through 1987.

Moon, who has maintained the first place in the ranking of presidential hopefuls, said it is a matter of time for President Park to voluntarily step down or be forcibly impeached, encouraging people to continue festival-like rallies in a peaceful manner.

The political big shot is scheduled to join the candlelight vigil that is scheduled to be held Saturday night in the Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul, just over a kilometer away from the presidential Blue House in which Parks office and residence are located.

Organizers estimate as many as 1.5 million people would take to the streets in the square and that about 500,000 would march in major cities across the country. Enditem