|
"With the stony look on his face, he looks as if he has no business in negotiations, but no one matches him for strategic thinking," says a senior government official of Stephen Bosworth, who has been appointed as the U.S. special envoy on North Korea. The post is senior to the chief U.S. negotiator at the six-party talks, so what Bosworth thinks and what style he chooses are important variables for the future course of negotiations with North Korea. Bosworth arrives in Seoul on Saturday.
A Foreign Ministry official who remembers Bosworth as U.S. ambassador in Seoul recalls, "In private meetings, he often expressed his distrust of the North Korean regime." In a meeting held in 2005, he reportedly said North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is a very unstable man.
But despite such personal beliefs, Bosworth is regarded as a staunch advocate of negotiations who believes in settlement through dialogue. He used to say that if there is anything that can prevent the worst acts in the cheapest way, it is diplomacy.
He is also considered a principled negotiator, having remarked that success or failure in North Korea policy depends not on whether we trust North Korea but on how we can confirm whether it keeps its promises.
A diplomatic source said his appointment means that U.S. President Barack Obama is determined not to be dragged along by the North but to engage it resolutely, without surrendering principles as the Bush administration did.
As ambassador in Seoul, Bosworth stressed South Korea's leading role in North Korea policy, saying South Korea is in the driver's seat and the U.S. in the passenger seat. In an interview with a Korean newspaper right after Obama was elected, Bosworth said the U.S. would first listen to other countries even if North Korea should take unexpected action.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
|
