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The office of the Foreign Ministry¡¯s Asia-Pacific Bureau on the 15th floor of the Foreign Ministry¡¯s headquarters on Sejong-no was closed to the outside all Thursday. Those who applied for visits or interviews were met with silence. Not a word could be heard from those handling relations with Japan.
Despite the fact that the president has virtually declared ¡°diplomatic war¡± on Japan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the body nominally responsible for these of things, has not released a single statement or explanation for two days.
Word is that the ministry is not so much refusing as unable to comment, because President Roh Moo-hyun released his letter slamming Japan without first consulting it. The only remark that has been made so far came from Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon, who said the ministry would make concrete plans to implement the president¡¯s will. Other questions have been met with responses of, ¡°We¡¯re busy.¡±
Since the president's declaration of war on Japan, Foreign Ministry staff look lost. Asked about for the precise meaning and background to the president¡¯s statement, they will only say, "Ask Cheong Wa Dae." One official said the Foreign Ministry was no longer a place where policy is made, merely executed.
The ministry has been busy all day trying to ¡°support the president,¡± saying officials have been in meetings all day to work out measures in tune with President¡¯s Roh anger.
But the ministry seems to be more nervous than disappointed about being excluded from the formulation of a momentous diplomatic policy. Apparently this is because a line in the president¡¯s letter said there were suspicions that the government¡¯s failure to act on Japanese provocations in the past encouraged Tokyo¡¯s thoughtlessness. A Foreign Ministry official wondered if this meant the president saw the nation¡¯s diplomacy up till now as useless and the Foreign Ministry needed to worry. Staff were focused entirely on Cheong Wa Dae.
Diplomats say that as civil servants, they have no choice but to follow, but they are concerned about the ramifications. One leading diplomat said that when former president Kim Young-sam famously said he would ¡°correct Japan¡¯s manners,¡± Tokyo admitted faults, but in the present matter the Japanese government would have a hard time publicly admitting it made a mistake. He said the President¡¯s letter would have a lasting impact on the Korea-Japan relationship before the problems sort themselves out.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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