[Column] If you want to change the N. Korea situation

Posted on : 2009-07-22 11:14 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Kim Ji-seok, Chief Editorial Writer

They say that a person who contracts a serious disease generally goes through five stages. The first is denial. During this stage, she believes that the diagnosis is wrong. The second is anger, where she sees the situation she is faced with as unjust and her thoughts can be summed up with the words “Why me?” Next is bargaining. The patient conditionally acknowledges the reality and makes various attempts to improve the situation. The fourth is depression. As the patient sees no results from her efforts, she feels a deep sense of loss and enervation. Finally, there is acceptance. As the patient steels herself for the worst, she actually gains a sense of comfort. This kind of mindset can sometimes make the illness take a turn for the better.

Similar stages appear when one is confronted with either difficult problems or the culture shock that comes from a sudden change in one’s living environment. In each case, it is important get past the denial and anger stages. Subsequent progress depends upon how quickly and accurately one is able to look at reality objectively, and how well one establishes goals and methods for moving past the first two stages. The deeper and more prolonged the denial and anger, the worse the situation is liable to become.

Leon V. Sigal, the director of the Northeast Asia Cooperative Security Project at the Social Science Research Council in New York, has applied these five stages to the actions seen from successive U.S. governments in relation with North Korea and its negotiations over the North Korean nuclear issue. Previously, the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush governments experienced denial and anger over North Korea’s behavior and then attempted negotiations afterwards, and ultimately ended up discouraged. The current Barack Obama administration is still in the anger stage.

It is clear that the Obama administration has received a shock from North Korea’s behavior over the past few months. President Obama himself requested that North Korea postpone its long-range rocket launch and sent Stephen W. Bosworth as Special Representative for North Korea Policy to Beijing to sound out possibilities for a North Korea visit, yet North Korea rejected these gestures and carried out not only the rocket launch, but its second nuclear test soon after. The U.S.-led sanctions against North Korea are an expression of anger, as if to say, “How can North Korea do this to me?” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s remark Monday likening North Koreas threat to the behavior of “unruly teenagers” was also an extension of this.

Anger is not necessarily something that arises from legitimate grounds. It is amplified when one closes one’s eyes and ears to the reality and is unable to self-reflect. Stunned by the large-scale candlelight vigil demonstrations that took place soon after the Lee Myung-bak administration took office, it first denied the reality and then became angry. Underlying his high-handed form of rule, which continues even to this day, is a psychology that asks, “What did I do to deserve this insult?” The recent hardline response to public grief for former President Roh Moo-hyun is another expression of this self-centered anger.

Kurt Campbell, who a few days ago made his first visit to South Korea since becoming U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, emphasized that a “comprehensive package that would be attractive” to North Korea could be offered, but only on the condition that North Korea take “series and irreversible steps.” This gesture is positive in that it expresses the determination to move beyond anger and into the next stage, bargaining. It is not enough, though. If the current U.S. administration wishes to avoid a repeat of the frustrations experienced in the past, there must be a significant difference in the framework of its discussions with North Korea, the methods pursuing them, and the content of the package. It is also essential that efforts be made to resume negotiations at an early date. It will be difficult to build any momentum if they start late, as the previous administration did.

The Lee administration has also shown signs that it is thinking about a change. President Lee’s recent emphasis on a “middle way” and “pragmatism centrism” may have emerged from such concerns, however, he still remains disconnected from the sentiments of the people. There are two essential touchstones for a shift in the current situation. One involves resolving the Ssangyong Motors situation and the Yongsan tragedy. If the government can take the initiative in guiding everyone towards a harmonious resolution of the Ssangyong Motor issue, and if it can wipe away the tears of the family members left behind by the victims of the Yongsan tragedy, the public will definitely have a new view on the government. Another involves putting an end to the plan to push through media legislation. As long as it remains fixated on media bills that open up the way for the Chosun Ilbo, JoongAng Ilbo and Dong-A Ilbo to enter broadcasting, this administration will still be seen by the people as valuing its preservation and strengthening of power over the people’s welfare.

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