hankyoreh

North Korea’s revelations about secret inter-Korean contacts are the very definition of shocking. The intensity of the shock to South Korea is likely to be more or less the same for supporters and opponents alike of the Lee Myung-bak administration’s North Korea policy. The duplicity, lack of principles, sloppy management, and impatience were enough to leave many simply agape. Yet the response from the Cheong Wa Dae (the presidential office in South Korea or Blue House) and government has been the epitome of insincerity. Once again, the Lee administration has called upon its “wait it out” strategy employed every time a controversy arises.
Some may think that it is not desirable for the South Korean government to offer up details about a secret inter-Korean meeting. They could well argue that doing so will only lead to further deterioration in inter-Korean relations. However, it has become strongly evident that the situation has already passed the point where it could be saved with silence. The most difficult aspect is that the bafflement and humiliation for South Koreans.
In responding to questions from the National Assembly yesterday, Minister of Unification Hyun In-taek said, “The contacts were intended to extract a clear admission and apology from North Korea on the Cheonan and Yeonpyeong Island provocations and a pledge that such things will not happen again.”
It is questionable how many people would be willing to take him at his word. To begin with, the idea of having a secret meeting to extract an apology does not add up. Minister Hyun in actuality needs to give South Koreans a precise explanation on the meaning of “a compromise plan that does not look like an apology to North Korea and that does look like an apology to South Korea.”
The contradictory behavior and scrambling from the Lee administration merely contributes to the credibility of North Korea’s claims.
What the people of South Korea most want to know right now is the real nature of the government’s North Korea policy. Everything is in a muddle now that the declarations about how the government was “not going to fixate on a summit meeting” have been proven untrue. There also needs to be answers to questions about whether there was an attempt to use inter-Korean summit meetings for domestic political ends. North Korea claimed that Seoul proposed holding successive summit meetings at Panmunjeom in late June, in Pyongyang in August, and in Seoul next March. If this is true, it is difficult to view this as anything other than a political strategy with next year’s April 2 general elections in mind.
The trust of the people is paramount in a government’s leadership of a country. By continually keeping the people uninformed and blindsiding them in this way, the Lee administration has plunged itself into a serious crisis of confidence. In spite of all of this, the Lee administration has not felt the need to make any effort whatsoever to implore the people‘s understanding and restore trust. Even coming from an administration that has made one-way communication its governance trademark, this is simply astounding.
　　　　
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