Photo : YONHAP News
South Korea’s National Security Adviser Shin Won-sik said that North Korea would not start a war unless it decided to commit suicide.
Shin made the remarks on Sunday, appearing on a KBS program, when asked about a recent analysis published in Foreign Policy magazine that the possibility of war breaking out on the Korean Peninsula has reached its highest level since the 1950 Korean War.
The national security adviser said that the possibility has always existed since the war, but the North would not bring about war unless it decided to commit suicide.
Shin said that traditionally, there are elements for North Korea to consider war, such as its preparations for war, South Korea’s readiness to properly counter the war and the soundness of the South Korea-U.S. alliance, adding that currently, the alliance is sound and South Korea, as an advanced nation, is strong.
The security adviser said that whether North Korea starts a war does not depend on its will but on South Korea’s will and posture, stressing the importance of concerted efforts of South Koreans to ensure North Korea will not start a war.