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It has been revealed that Cheong Wa Dae investigated National Security Council deputy chief Lee Jong-seok on two occasions in April. They say the investigation focused on whether Korean negotiators accepted a U.S. plan during negotiations only to go back on their word later. The concept of strategic flexibility, whereby the U.S. Forces in Korea would be deployed to other hot zones in Northeast Asia when conflicts erupt there, is a key matter on which the future of the Korea-U.S. alliance depends.
Cheong Wa Dae said the investigation confirmed that there was nothing amiss with the NSC-led negotiations. The incident nonetheless gives us a peek at how the Lee Jong-seok system, which has virtually stage-managed the diplomatic and security policy of the current administration from behind the scenes, has operated. The problems this time were not within the NSC, controlled as it is by Lee, but a result of an outside intelligence report received by the Cheong Wa Dae situation room.
First of all, talk that a matter as important as this would be raised from outside rather than from within the NSC itself means that the council has become so rigid an organization that it has lost the ability to correct itself. In short, people wonder whether the NSC is a one-man show where all others are subject to the writ of the deputy chief. Rumor has it that the heads of the Foreign and Defense ministries, who outrank Lee in the government hierarchy, actually worry about what the NSC deputy chief thinks and try to bring their views into line with his. And that¡¯s ministers. Think how difficult it must be for Lee¡¯s subordinates within the NSC to state their opinions freely. Yet it is a fact that Lee, as a North Korea expert, lacks expertise and experience with allied diplomacy and military issues. This being the case, it is only if he listens to his subordinates, hears candid advice from them, and tries to supplements his own weaknesses by taking pains to work with other government ministries, that he can maintain any kind of balance in his policies. The way the problems came to light would suggest that this wasn¡¯t the case.
The NSC is a key body responsible for national security. It is a bad sign if there is a problem with the way it operates at a time when it must devise urgent steps in the sensitive North Korean nuclear issue. Cheong Wa Dae must explain whether there really was a problem with the NSC secretariat, not cover things up by denying any problems, and take action to deal with any such problems.
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