Abandoned at a Nuclear Crossroads <i>by Kim Dae-joong</i> The dynamics of international relations concerning the Korean Peninsula are rapidly changing. So is the security situation of South Korea. With North Korea's vice foreign minister Kim Kye-gwan's visit to the United States as momentum, U.S.-North Korean relations are suddenly improving. In Vietnam, Japan has held negotiations with North Korea on improving relations (although their talks are broken off for the time being). Senior officials from the U.S. departments of State and the Treasury have visited China, suggesting that the U.S. is giving weight to China's go-between role in the Korean Peninsula. North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has unexpectedly visited the Chinese Embassy in Pyongyang to stress his friendship with China. Lee Hae-chan, a special aide to the South Korean president, has visited Pyongyang, tapping the possibility of an inter-Korean summit meeting. It all shows that with the Feb. 13 six-party agreement as momentum, the status of nuclear-armed North Korea is rising, and that the traditional alliances and hostilities in and around the Korean Peninsula are being readjusted. Today's South Korea may not be the friend of the U.S. it was yesterday, just as today's North Korea is not the enemy it was. Since his inauguration, U.S. President George W. Bush at every opportunity branded North Korea part of an "axis of evil," a dictatorship and a violator of human rights. But as seen in his State of the Union address this year, Bush has become very quiet as far as North Korea and Kim Jong-il are concerned. He has gone so far as to praise the six-party agreement as "successful" even if he would have thrown away only a few months ago. Bush is no longer a politician of principles. He has virtually given in to North Korean nuclear weapons. South Korea is in trouble. Over the past five decades, we have had a free ride for our national security is concerned, with full support from the United States. Furthermore, North Korea was weak. China was bent on reviving its own economy. Japan was trying to maintain its status as an economic power. That allowed us to focus on developing our economy relatively smoothly, without having to worry much about security. But now the tables have been turned. With its weapons, North Korea has grown strong enough to confront the U.S. Buoyed by its economic growth, China is stretching itself, longing for the good old days when it had the run of Asia. With the backing of its strong relations with the U.S., Japan behaves like a U.S. proxy in Asia. Above all, the U.S. is leaving South Korea. Now South Korea's free ride for its security is coming to an end -- a natural consequence of South Korea's own actions, because the Roh Moo-hyun government looked on as North Korea pursued a nuclear development program and encouraged the U.S. to leave. We may feel the U.S. is being irresponsible, but nobody can stop it from leaving South Korea. This is what the Roh administration wanted. And the U.S. can no longer afford to stay here, even if we oppose its departure. The situation in Northeast Asia has changed, and so has America. It has become disaffected with South Korea. As a gesture of courtesy to an ally, it should lay out a step-by-step roadmap to security prior to departure. But if we look at the Bush administration's way of handling the transition of wartime operational control of South Korean troops to Seoul and the North Korean nuclear crisis, it is doubtful if the U.S. feels any sense of responsibility for the future security of South Korea. Last Wednesday, Gen. Burwell Bell, the commander of U.S. Forces Korea, expressed concern about the reduction of the South Korean forces and shortening of their military service, saying that North Korea could be a nuclear power by 2009. It is difficult not to feel aggrieved, since his statement sounds like, "Can you do it alone even if we are leaving?" Now we have to defend ourselves with our own efforts. Regardless of who is to blame, that is the reality we have to face. We must work out emergency measures to survive. We must double our diplomatic efforts, boost defense capabilities, and pay more taxes for this cause. More importantly, we need the defense equipment that allows us to cope with North Korea's nuclear weapons. That means we need to reconsider our position on nuclear weapons. We are surrounded by countries who either have or are capable of building nuclear arms. Because it has nuclear weapons, North Korea has been able to survive and negotiate with the big powers. Of course, China also has nuclear weapons, and the stark reality is that Japan, with a nuclear reprocessing plant, is capable of making nuclear arms any time it needs to. In addition, if we cannot expect the support of the nuclear umbrella provided by the U.S, we could be left helpless at a crossroads in East Asia amid a forest of nuclear weapons. Mere troop numbers or longer military service, as General Bell appeared to suggest, would not guarantee security. As long as it tolerates North Korea's nuclear weapons, the U.S. has no justification for preventing any country that is desperate to survive from developing its own. url: http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200703/200703120029.html