hankyoreh

WASHINGTON - South Korea and the United States have been bandying words about over the planned meeting between Lee Myung-bak, the presidential candidate of South Korea’s main opposition Grand National Party, and U.S. President George W. Bush. Since the meeting was announced on September 28, the pace of the exchange has picked up as criticism of the appropriateness of the meeting has been raised by Washington insiders and presidential candidates in Seoul. A U.S. president has never before met a foreign presidential candidate prior to an election and concerns over whether this will serve to influence South Korea’s December election my put a stop to a meeting that the GNP says it has no plans to alter.

Diplomats in both South Korea and the United States have expressed their dissatisfaction over the meeting because the plan was fixed without their prior knowledge. Some people close to the matter in Washington say the White House may reconsider whether or not to have meeting, while other presidential hopefuls in South Korea have called on Lee to cancel his planned meeting with Bush.

A diplomatic source in Washington said, “I’m aware that the National Security Council and the State Department were reconsidering the meeting as it could set a bad example if a presidential candidate of another country were to meet the U.S. president.”

Another source in Washington said, “The confirmation letter for the Lee-Bush meeting was sent by the office of appointments and scheduling, without having consulted the State Department. Because the confirmation letter was revealed too early, the White House lost its chance to give an explanation about the meeting to both the State Department and the South Korean government,” the source said.

Through diplomatic channels, the South Korean government asked the U.S. State Department for an explanation about the confirmation of the planned meeting between Lee and Bush; the State Department said that the confirmation letter was inappropriate. In addition, the U.S. embassy in Seoul was believed to have had a negative reaction when Lee’s camp suggested the meeting between Lee and Bush.

In a press briefing on October 1, the South Korean presidential spokesman, Cheon Ho-seon, said, “I’m aware that the meeting between Lee and Bush was arranged outside of official diplomatic channels. The South Korean government did not place any orders to the foreign affairs authorities nor deliver any messages to the U.S.,” Cheon said.

Apparently nervous at the possibility that the meeting could be canceled, the GNP reaffirmed that there is no change in the planned meeting. “Because the meeting is uncommon, several rumors could pop up, but I haven’t heard about a change so far,” said Park Hyung-joon, a spokesman for the GNP.

Park Dae-won, a former Seoul city advisor who played a role in arranging the meeting, said, “Because the meeting was pushed by Kang Young-woo, policy advisor of the White House’s National Council on Disability, the South Korean government may protest against the U.S. However, the meeting will proceed as planned.”

Sources in Washington said it remains to be seen whether Lee will meet Bush during his U.S. visit.

“Some are skeptical, but others say that a compromise on changing the format of the planned meeting could be possible,” said one of the sources.

A lawmaker close to Lee said, “We are focusing on the possibility that the meeting format could be changed (from that of a one-on-one meeting).”

In the meantime, presidential hopefuls of the liberal United New Democratic Party demanded that Lee withdraw his plans to meet Bush.

Chung Dong-young, one of the leading UNDP presidential hopefuls, said that “it would be a very inappropriate meeting that could raise questions about the neutrality of the U.S. administration.”

Another UNDP hopeful, Lee Hae-chan, said, “He could decide the fate of this nation as a candidate who looks like a subordinate serving the United States.”

Independent presidential hopeful Moon Kook-hyun accused Lee of neglecting the diplomatic system between the two nations.