[USFK Forums] Editorial: "Not a pro-North leftist" [Korea Herald]

[C. Y. Lee]

Uploaded by C. Y. Lee on Tuesday, February 7, 2006 that is different from what has been dated by The Korea Herald:

[EDITORIAL]`Not a pro-North leftist`

The Korea Herald, Wednesday, February 8, 2006

For Unification Minister-designate Lee Jong-suk, the two-day confirmation hearing at the National Assembly was an opportunity to assert that he is not at all in favor of the North Korean system.

Yet he demonstrated throughout his grilling from both ruling and opposition lawmakers that he is a strong advocate of co-existence with the northern regime.

Lee, one of the most controversial figures in the administration of President Roh Moo-hyun, will take up his new post this week despite the negative reaction from the main opposition Grand National Party.

The hearings are essentially aimed at airing opinions regarding the nominee`s suitability - or otherwise - for the intended post. They do not have the power to withhold consent to the appointment.

The clarifications Lee made about himself and the northern regime may indicate the direction of the administration`s North Korea policy, but the scholar-turned-administrator should also seek to identify where the national consensus lies as he takes up his job.

First of all, he denied that he is a "pro-North Korean leftist," a label he earned from among opposition and conservative circles while he served as the top aide to President Roh on security affairs.

I never beautified Kim Il-sung`s `Jucheism` but strongly criticized it. I just accepted his anti-Japanese `partisan` (guerrilla) activities as a fact," he affirmed, claiming that none of the readers of his book on North Korea, which was printed up to a 12th edition, had any doubt about his thoughts. His other key points were:

- Seoul needs to pursue reasonable pragmatism to achieve peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula. It is not a matter of choice between the right and the left, conservatism and liberalism.

- It is still too early to discuss forming a low degree of confederation with the North. It should be preceded by a stabilization of the peace on the peninsula.

- It would be detrimental to the relaxation of tension on the peninsula if the government openly demands improvement of human rights in North Korea.

- The present administration has proposed a 9 percent increase in the defense budget each year, the highest rate since the 1980s.

At one point, Lee admitted he had a tilt to some radical theories as a young scholar in the 1980s but he assured the hearing that he gained a balanced academic vision and insight afterwards.

In the question and answer session at the Assembly committee, the unification minister nominee exhibited a considerable degree of balance in his views and prescriptions for inter-Korean relations.

Some suspect that he could just have been playing it safe to dodge the opposition offensive which was being mounted against him and the four other cabinet post nominees and the police chief who are also facing confirmation hearings.

Some others speculate that the apparent moderate stance of Lee Jong-suk and that of President Roh could be a reaction to the rise of a group of pro-unification and anti-American "hard-liners" within the Blue House.

They point to the recent leak of secret records of discussions between presidential aides which contain allegations deeply embarrassing to Lee in connection with the Korea-U.S. negotiations on the Washington policy of "strategic flexibility" on the possible overseas deployment of the U.S. Forces based in Korea.

Lee is undoubtedly the most trusted security affairs assistant to the president. But his three-year service at the Blue House, first as deputy secretary general of the National Security Council and then as its secretary general, created many adversaries in the political and bureaucratic communities and now apparently within the center of power.

To do his job successfully as the next unification minister, Lee will first have to identify the friends and foes around him and seek their understanding before reaching out to the North Koreans to promote his peace and prosperity policy. 2006.02.08



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