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After the G7 summit: Scholz calls on North Korea to end nuclear and missile tests

After the G7 summit: Scholz calls on North Korea to end nuclear and missile tests

It’s a journey back to the Cold War: Olaf Scholz is the first chancellor in 30 years to get an idea of ​​the inner-Korean border.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has asked North Korea to stop its nuclear and missile tests. “These ballistic tests have to stop. The attempt to nuclear-strengthen yourself has to stop. It’s a threat to peace and security in the region,” Scholz said during a chancellor’s first visit to the inter-Korean border in 30 years.

The rocket launches in the communist-governed north repeatedly cause international concern and criticism. According to UN resolutions, they are actually banned.

Kohl hoped for reunification within ten years

Before Scholz, Helmut Kohl was Chancellor on the inner-Korean border in 1993. After the fall of the Wall, the CDU chairman at the time expressed the hope that the democratic south and the communist north could also be reunited within a decade. Nothing came of it.

30 years later, Scholz spoke of an “unchanged dangerous situation”. The division is “continued to be a bitter reality, day after day”. He called the visit to the border moving in view of the division of Germany between 1949 and 1990. “Germany is now reunited. It’s very lucky that we have it.”

Under international law, both Korean states have been at war since the end of their civil war in 1953. There was never a peace treaty. More than a million soldiers face each other on either side of the 38th parallel that divides Korea. The United States also has 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea.

Since Kim Jong Un took power in North Korea in 2011, his largely isolated People’s Republic has repeatedly caused tension – above all through missile tests and his nuclear weapons program. Four out of six nuclear tests were carried out under Kim. He also pushed the development of ballistic missiles, which can also carry a nuclear warhead. “Germany strongly condemns this irresponsible action,” said Scholz. It is contrary to international law and threatens the entire region.

Scholz for a few minutes in North Korea

A relaxation initiative under former US President Donald Trump was unsuccessful. Scholz was in the same place where Trump shook hands with dictator Kim across the border in 2019. With his wife Britta Ernst, the chancellor visited the blue barracks in which the armistice agreement concluded in July 1953 was negotiated after the three-year Korean War.

Scholz was observed with binoculars from the border building on the North Korean side. In the barracks with the negotiating table that stands on the border line, he also briefly entered North Korean territory.

Few hours in South Korea

Scholz only stayed a few hours in South Korea – on the way back from Japan, where he had attended the G7 summit for three days. In the capital, Seoul, he met President Yoon Suk Yeol. One reason for the visit: Scholz wants to reduce the dependency of the German economy on China and to position itself more broadly in Asia.

Yoon said at a joint press conference that he had agreed with Scholz to expand trade and investment relations to “future-oriented industries”. He included the areas of hydrogen, semiconductors, biotechnology and clean energies. Germany and South Korea also want to conclude an agreement to protect military secrets. It should help “ensure smooth operation of the supply chains in the defense industry,” said Yoon.

Source: Stern

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