Ahn Cheol-soo of the People Power Party said on the 21st that "President Lee Jae-myung has effectively acknowledged North Korea's possession of nuclear weapons," adding, "Kim Jong Un must be cheering. That's because events are unfolding exactly in the direction he wanted."
Ahn wrote on Facebook that day, "(The president) in an interview with the U.S. weekly magazine Time presented a three-step sequence of halting North Korea's nuclear program, leading to arms reduction and complete denuclearization," noting, "The very term 'arms reduction' presupposes North Korea's possession of nuclear weapons. It means North Korea's complete denuclearization has set off down a path that will be impossible forever."
He continued, "If nuclear arms reduction talks between the United States and North Korea get underway in earnest, the United States may accept demands such as 'suspension of South Korea-U.S. joint exercises, withdrawal of U.S. Forces Korea, and easing of sanctions on the North' in return for reducing some of North Korea's nuclear threats," adding, "In the end, the Korean Peninsula will enter a dangerous phase of 'nuclear coexistence, peace with nuclear weapons.'"
Ahn said, "What the Lee Jae-myung administration will likely push next is a declaration to end the war," adding, "If nuclear arms reduction talks and an end-of-war declaration move forward, Kim Jong Un will achieve all his goals while retaining nuclear weapons, and unification of the Korean Peninsula will inevitably become more distant."
He urged the president, "In the three-step solution of freeze → reduction → denuclearization, make sure to recognize that the ultimate goal is denuclearization and enter negotiations with that in mind," adding, "I strongly ask that you make every effort to ensure there is no wavering, with the ultimate goal of coolheaded denuclearization faithful to a North Korea nuclear strategy and principles."