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On Feb. 8, Joseph De Mora, a political and economic affairs officer at the Canadian consulate in Chicago, met with Austan Goolsbee, a University of Chicago economics professor and Senator Barack Obama's senior economic advisor. De Mora asked for an explanation of Obama's call for renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Goolsbee allegedly assured that Obama's campaign trail protectionist rhetoric "is more reflective of political maneuvering than policy." The outcome of the meeting was immediately reported to the Canadian government in Ottawa through the Canadian Embassy in Washington.
The meeting, the details of which were revealed in a memorandum obtained by the Associated Press, shows that foreign countries maintain communication networks with the campaigns of U.S. Republican and Democratic Party presidential candidates. It indicates that foreign diplomatic missions in the U.S. are active in collecting information related to their home countries, especially from the camp of Obama, a leading Democratic presidential contender.
A consulate, unlike an embassy, mainly handles matters involving the citizens of its country. But Canada's Foreign Ministry, noting that Chicago is Obama's political base, appears to have instructed its Chicago consulate to contact the Obama camp.
It's not only Canada that is eager to collect information, establishing a network with the Obama campaign. Rumors are afloat that Japanese diplomats are busy contacting Obama's people in and around Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, D.C., where several think-tanks are clustered.
It's no longer a secret that diplomats of developed countries pay close attention to presidential elections in other countries and contact campaign figures. To analyze the trends of our presidential election, the U.S. Department of State dispatched situation analysts to Korea beginning in late 2006. Staying in Seoul for about three weeks each, they prepared reports after meeting with people close to the expected candidates. They analyzed trends by meeting with not only politicians, businessmen and journalists, but also college students and even members of women office workersĄŻ organizations. To assess changes among the young, an analyst even sat down with high school students.
In contrast, we wonder how much attention our Foreign Ministry is paying to the U.S. election, and its candidates who could have a major impact on the Korean Peninsula. Obama, who is rousing a strong following in the election, in particular has notified the U.S. Congress in writing of his objection to the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement. He has also declared his intention to meet with heads of adversarial nations without preconditions. If he is elected, he may meet with Kim Jong-il. Special attention is warranted because greater changes are expected to take place under an Obama administration than might under either Hillary Clinton or Republican candidate John McCain.
It remains to be seen if Obama will win the Democratic nomination after the "mini-Super Tuesday primary" that revived Clinton from near death. But the heated support of Obama is unlikely to wane; it seems high time that we established measures to quietly cope with the development.
This column was contributed by Lee Ha-won, the Chosun Ilbo's correspondent in Washington.
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