|
Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon on Friday admitted to ¡°perception gaps¡± between the Korean and American people. The chief diplomat was speaking at a forum by a group of veteran journalists at the Korea Press Center about the planned bilateral summit on Sept. 14. ¡°Once created, such perception gaps are hard to dispel,¡± Ban said. ¡°No matter how hard we try to explain in words, in writing or via official briefings, they are difficult to remove and we must urgently get rid of them first.¡± Why, many wonder, did Ban mention these ¡°gaps¡± two weeks ahead of the summit?
Pundits say the remarks aim to cap expectations for the two presidents¡¯ meeting. ¡°There seems to be some unfinished business regarding the planned summit,¡± a researcher with a state-run think tank said. ¡°Ban¡¯s remarks aim to cope with the possibility that it won¡¯t produce any tangible agreement.¡±
Others say the remarks acknowledge that the bilateral relationship has changed dramatically since the inter-Korean summit in 2000. ¡°Korea changed far more significantly than the U.S. over the last 50 years,¡± the minister said. ¡°We are witnessing a paradigm shift in this country.¡± Some pundits believe Ban worries that conflict between Seoul and Washington will intensify as a sense that Korea should deal with the U.S. as an equal crystallizes here. In other words, he was alluding to divisive issues like ¡°strategic flexibility¡± allowing the U.S. Forces Korea to move in and out of the peninsula more easily, the government¡¯s plan to exercise sole wartime operational control of Korean troops, and to the squabble over who should pay for the environmental cleanup at bases the USFK is to vacate.
 |
|
Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon speaks at a forum held by a group of veteran journalists at the Korea Press Center in Seoul on Friday.
|
 |
|
Ban denied the government¡¯s plan to exercise sole troop control was ¡°a strategic move to create a favorable environment for the next inter-Korean summit.¡± But he added, ¡°When we withdraw wartime operational control of our troops from the U.S., it will contribute to creating a positive environment where we can discuss a peace framework on the peninsula¡± with the North. Asked about the possibility of North Korea conducting a nuclear test, he said, ¡°We started to review action plans to prepare for any nuclear test by Pyongyang. I¡¯m willing to go to Pyongyang if it would be of any help to deal with the situation.¡±
(englishnews@chosun.com )
|
