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As a Democrat Barack Obama was elected as the next U.S. president on Wednesday, the Korean government and ruling party began to mobilize a human resources network of people acquainted with the soon-to-be-launched U.S. administration. The government is especially keen on establishing contacts with the new vice-president-elect Joseph Biden and the Brookings Institution, which are likely to serve as the brain of Obama¡¯s diplomatic and security policies.
President Lee Myung-bak sent a congratulatory letter to Biden, whom he personally knows well. ¡°I remember how the U.S. Congress congratulated me upon my winning the presidential election. Now it is your turn to be congratulated,¡± Lee wrote.
Kim Sung-hwan, senior presidential secretary for foreign affairs and national security, and Kim Tae-hyo, presidential secretary for foreign policy, are now contacting Frank Jannuzi, senior Asia advisor on the Democratic Party staff of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Gordon Flake, the executive director of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation, and Susan Rice and Jeffrey Bader of the Brookings Institution.
Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan plans to visit the U.S. and meet with the key personnel in Obama¡¯s camp in December. An official at the Foreign Ministry said the ministry is contacting Senator Chuck Hagel and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.
The ruling Grand National Party is planning to meet with Obama¡¯s camp through lawmakers Park Jin and Hwang Jin-ha, who made extensive contacts in the Democratic Party during the 1990s under the presidency of Kim Young-sam. Park and Hwang will visit the U.S. on Nov. 17 as representatives of the Foreign Affairs, Trade and Unification Committee of the National Assembly. The party also plans to dispatch another group of lawmakers.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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