After North Korean authorities pushed back against the joint statement from the Korea–European Union (EU) summit, the Blue House issued an official position saying it would not be shaken and would calmly continue its existing peace stance toward North Korea.
A senior Blue House official told Yonhap News on the 14th, regarding the North Korean Foreign Ministry's statement that directly criticized the Korea–EU joint statement, that "the government will neither be elated nor discouraged and, with a long-term perspective, will steadfastly push forward policies for peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula."
The official added, "The EU also supports our government's policies for easing tensions and establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula."
Earlier, President Lee Jae-myung held a summit in Brussels, Belgium, on the 10th with European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and produced a joint statement. The statement included a strong condemnation of illegal military and weapons transaction activities between Russia and North Korea, along with a message that North Korea would never be accepted as a lawful nuclear-armed state within the framework of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT).
A Blue House official accompanying the president on the Europe tour explained the North Korea-related passages in the joint statement by saying, "It simply reflects the position already stated by the Korean government," drawing a line that it did not particularly raise the level of rhetoric or pivot to a new hard-line course from the existing stance.
However, North Korea responded strongly the previous day, invoking the name of the Foreign Ministry's "Department 10 Spokesperson," which handles inter-Korean affairs. The North said it was "a clear infringement on the sovereignty of our state and a grave hostile act," adding that "the ruler of South Korea has thrown away the 'peace' mask they had been ostentatiously wearing."