At a summit with Presient Roh Moo-hyun in Hanoi, Bush thanked him for South Korea's support for and cooperation with the Proliferation Strategy Initiative. A senior government official explained, "The South Korean and U.S. heads of state had a meeting of minds. Concerns about a Seoul-Washington conflict over Seoul's non-participation in the PSI have been dispelled completely."

The reality is just the opposite. The U.S. no longer regards South Korea as a partner in resolving the North Korean nuclear crisis, to the point where it doesn’t even bother to be unpleasant any more. Though our government said Seoul, joining hands with Beijing, would counter pressures on North Korea by the U.S. and Japan, China has grasped the hands of America and Japan and ignored South Korea’s outstretched hand.

A rumor is making the rounds of a deal between the U.S. and China that Washington will withdraw its forces from South Korea and put an end to its alliance with Seoul, and that Beijing, in return, will guarantee a nuclear-free North Korea by overthrowing the Kim Jong-il regime and establishing a pro-Beijing regime. The self-reliance idea this administration has held on to so firmly for three years and nine moths has led to South Korea’s complete exclusion from these matters that concern our survival. The country’s situation resembles that of 100 years ago, when the sovereignty of the nation fell to the ambitions of the Japanese Empire because Korea made the wrong choices among the fierce competion of surrounding superpowers vying for their national intersts -- mostly the same major players as now. The king’s incompetence was responsible for the situation then. The people know who is responsible now.