hankyoreh

The U.S. Board on Geographic Names, having only last week changed its designation for Dokdo and its surrounding waters to “undesignated sovereignty,” has now “restored” its classification of the Dokdo islets as Korean territory and the surrounding waters to “Ocean.” At least it is good that the issue was brought to a conclusion ahead of the U.S.-Korea summit next week. However, the situation is in fact more serious because the episode reconfirms what is wrong with President Lee Myung-bak’s foreign policy and that differences remain between the United States and Korea about the islets.

That the United States returned its designation to what it had been means the change was wrong from the start. The BGN created the “undesignated sovereignty” classification last year and applied it first to Dokdo. That was an irrational move that took Korea lightly. It is clear the upcoming U.S.-Korea summit played a big role in restoring the designation of the islets’ sovereignty to that of Korea. The summit had been postponed once already because of the American beef issue; U.S. President George W. Bush likely figured that it would be hard to hold on to it with the Dokdo issue hanging in the balance.

The overall situation regarding Dokdo is now worse off than it had been previously. The United States has made it official that it does not agree with either Korea or Japan’s territorial claims. It is a so-called “neutral” position, essentially the same as sympathizing with Japan’s plot to have the islets be viewed as a “disputed territory.” This pro-Japanese tone appears to have played a part in why the U.S. State Department supported the “undesignated sovereignty” change by the BGN in the first place. Furthermore, the name “Liancourt Rocks” remains in place for Dokdo, and Japan’s desire to plunder the territory remains as well. This recent episode could end up hurting international use of the Dokdo name.

In all of this, more than a few problems with President Lee’s approach to foreign affairs have become apparent. The change to “undesignated sovereignty” is said to have gotten started when the U.S. Library of Congress asked the BGN for clarification about the name of the islets, after moving to change the search words for Dokdo and then getting stuck. The South Korean Embassy in Washington knew nothing of what was going on, and then it did nothing even after developments at the Library of Congress became known publicly. It had not been prepared, and then when there were signs of what was going on it waited around for the issue to explode. It took the embassy days to figure out what was going on. Dokdo was altogether on neglected in President Lee’s amateurish policy on a “New Era” for Korea-Japan relations.

The Blue House’s response has been all too easygoing. It is congratulating itself on the United States’ return to designating Dokdo as Korean territory as a major accomplishment in President Lee’s efforts to “restore the U.S.-Korea alliance,” without the deep reflection into why all this happened in the first place. Yesterday Lee said Korea has the “advantage” because it has actual control over the islets. As president he should have prevented Dokdo from ever having become an issue for the international community, but instead he is exploring who has the advantage now that it has become one, the premise of which is that it has become “disputed territory.” He showed how out of touch he is with the Korean people when he asked about who should be held responsible for the episode. “How can you hold people responsible every time something happens?”

Dokdo diplomacy requires a strategic approach to fundamentally resolving the issue and an everyday approach to effectively leading and managing international opinion. The administration has been weak on both fronts. The patchwork and “cleanup crew” diplomacy must not continue. This episode is like a warning, one that the issue of Dokdo is going to become more serious. Japan is becoming increasingly more persistent in its provocations and the United States is basically leaning towards Japan’s position. President Lee’s foreign policy has no future if he does not learn this important lesson.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]