[USFK Forums] Editorial: In defense of U.S. envoy [Korea Herald]

[C. Y. Lee]

[Uploaded by C. Y. Lee on Saturday, December 17, 2005]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Korea Herald, Friday, December 16, 2005

[EDITORIAL] In defense of U.S. envoy

Rep. Kim Won-wung of the ruling Uri Party is a man of strong conviction but he showed he is not endowed with ample patience when he called on the administration earlier this week to demand the recall of new U.S. Ambassador Alexander Vershbow. He faulted the ambassador for jeopardizing peace on the Korean Peninsula by describing North Korea as a "criminal regime" and a "military threat."

Amb. Vershbow, who came here in October after four years` service as ambassador to Moscow, has proved himself to be an energetic and versatile man. He provided quotes for the media almost every other day in social functions, internet chats, lectures and seminars. In between he demonstrated his musical talent on the drums, appearing with local bands at a jazz club and a university street cafe.

His concerns stretched from the North`s variety of alleged guilt - involving drugs, counterfeit greenbacks and weapons of mass destruction - to bilateral matters such as suspended beef imports, a free trade agreement and visa waivers. He must have done intensive homework before arriving in Seoul and must be arduously following up events and issues here with the help of able staff.

Still, he may find it hard to understand how the ruling party lawmaker is so upset by his remarks and so quick to call for his departure, and why many of his compatriots join him in such harsh reaction. After all, he just said what is obvious about North Korea.

To help him answer the question, we would like him to give some thought to two current statistics: the number of North Korean defectors arriving in Korea hit 2,000 this year while some 30,000 South Koreans visited the North during the year, excluding those who traveled to Mt. Geumgang.

North Korea remains an enemy maintaining the world`s fourth largest standing army (possibly third after the reduction of Russian forces), with or without nuclear weapons, and South Korea`s legal system and military strategies regard it as such. People risk great peril to escape from repression and starvation, vividly exposed in the world conference on North Korean human rights held in Seoul earlier this month.

Yet the distance between the two halves has surprisingly become narrower in recent years with the southerners` sentiment toward the North changing gradually from hate to pity and compassion. It could be the effect of the "sunshine policy" since the previous administration, but South Koreans began opening their minds when they finally had confidence in what they achieved through decades of confrontation. The comfort they gained from freedom and wealth allowed them to be more relaxed about "threats" from the North although conservatives are less tolerant of the northerners` continuing paranoia.

Pundits may be looking for a correlative between the South Koreans` mental thaw toward the North and the rise of anti-Americanism in the southern society. But we would suggest that Amb. Vershbow search for his own answer to this question as he ponders the reason for Rep. Kim Won-wung`s complaints.

South Koreans should appreciate the U.S. diplomat for trying to remind them of what he sees as the nature of the North Korean regime, and those who disagree are advised to give him more time until he will be able to grasp fully the realities here, which may differ from what he learned from his tutors in D.C.

How great a portion of the populace Rep. Kim represents at this moment is not important. What is important is the ambassador`s efforts to broaden the base of understanding between the two governments and two peoples he is assigned to liaison.






2005.12.16