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Pyongyang¡¯s nuclear development program was likely designed to win the regime security guarantees, said President Roh Moo-hyun during a brunch sponsored by the civilian foreign policy research group World Affairs Council (WAC) in Los Angeles recently.
His remark spurred instant controversy as it indicates a strong divergence in opinion regarding the North Korean nuclear issue from the U.S., South Korea's longstanding ally.
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President Roh Moo-Hyun speaks at a breakfast meeting held by the World Affairs Council in Los Angeles, on Saturday(Korean time). Roh is scheduled to hold a summit with U.S. President George W. Bush on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Chile on Nov. 20 and 21. /Yonhap
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In the speech in which the premier candidly laid forth his feelings on the issue, he stated that North Korea had no choice but to give up its nuclear programs.
Continuing in a similarly blunt fashion, he said there was no evidence to support claims that North Korea was linked to terrorist organizations, adding that the reclusive enclave had already embarked on the path of reform in opening itself up to the international diplomatic and economic arena.
Roh said dialogue was the only way to deal with North Korea and the use of force and a policy of containment should not be authorized or condoned. He ventured that the U.S. should offer new measures to guarantee the security of North Korea's political and social system.
Pundits, meanwhile, suggested the South Korean president may have come across as ungrateful. Roh should have expressed his gratitude for U.S. efforts to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue in his speech to ensure a successful summit with U.S President George W. Bush on November 20, said Korea University's Prof. Hyun In-taek, who specializes in political diplomacy. He added that it was not diplomatically desirable for the president to criticize U.S. policies on North Korea in a public speech.
Prof. Lee Jung-hoon at Yonsei University claimed the president had refrained from sending a serious warning to North Korea since the six-way talks began and his speech in L.A. only reinforced that.
Some diplomatic experts expressed concern that Roh chose to make such a keynote speech only one week short of the Korea-U.S. summit talks.
Not for the first time in his political career, Roh's words caused shockwaves in political circles. Grand National Party (GNP) lawmaker Park Jin said that it was shocking to hear the president defend and even justify North Korea's nuclear programs when he should recognize the evident threat a nuclear-armed North would pose to national security.
Park said Roh's remark was tantamount to launching a bomb at the Korea-U.S. relationship and further jeopardized the already-strained six-way talks.
Uri Party lawmaker Choi Sung empathized with the president¡¯s remark, calling for a peaceful resolution to the North¡¯s nuclear issue and asking for new policies on North Korea as the Bush administration seems to have hardened its position in its second term.
The LA Times reported Korean Americans' responses to the president¡¯s speech. The consensual opinion of those interviewed was that President Roh seemed to place too much trust in North Korea to act rationally, as well as a sense of confusion about why he had made the speech.
(Shin Jeong-rok, jrshin.chosun.com)
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