DP chair calls on Lee to change his N. Korea and foreign policy advisers

Posted on : 2008-11-08 12:04 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Foreign minister says there are no plans for such a change, blames North for current impasse in inter-Korean relations

Democratic Party Chairman Chung Sye-kyun is publicly demanding that President Lee Myung-bak change his North Korea and foreign policy advisers.

“The administration’s North Korea policy lineup is full of people who think inter-Korean dialogue is useless and who have no expertise on North Korea, and that could cause it to be out of step with the new American administration,” said Chung, speaking at the Seoul Foreign Correspondents Club on November 7. “I can’t name names, but it is hard to have smooth dialogue when the North Korea and foreign policy teams are filled more with hard-liners than people who know the North well.”

“U.S. President-elect Obama has declared he will have active dialogue with the North to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue, and I think that means efforts on the part of the United States to negotiate at places like the six-party talks are going to become more resilient, making for progress in U.S.-North Korean relations,” he said. “President Lee Myung-bak should see the changed domestic and international situation for what it is and abandon his Cold War, confrontational tone with North Korea immediately.”

Chung listed what he said are things Seoul needs to do to improve relations with Pyongyang, including publicly declaring that the Lee administration will follow through with the June 15 and October 4 Declarations; moving forward with the Gaeseong (Kaesong) Industrial Complex project; resuming humanitarian aid without conditions, and resuming inter-Korean dialogue between government authorities.

Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan, however, said it is Pyongyang that has to bear the blame for the interruption in dialogue and that the administration has no plans to change its policy.

At a press conference for Korean and international journalists called at the Central Government Complex in downtown Seoul also on November 7, Yu said the reason there has not been any formal dialogue between Seoul and Pyongyang recently “is not because there is a problem with our North Korea policy.”

Rather, he said, “it is because the North is completely rejecting our offers of dialogue.”

“There is no need to amend the administration’s North Korea policy because there has been no change to the basic principle that everything should be resolved through dialogue and negotiation, to encourage the North in a direction of reform and openness.”

Asked how the Lee administration would respond if President-elect Obama were to seek direct bilateral talks between Pyongyang and Washington, and specifically whether Seoul would respond by encouraging direct contact between the United States and the North, or whether it would insist that talks be carried out in tandem with discussions between North and South, Yu said that having concurrent bilateral talks “would have a synergy effect” and that he expects that “Seoul and Washington will have to cooperate with each other” to arrange this.

Yu’s comments appear to indicate that the Lee administration has no plans to make the first move in adjusting its approach to the North ahead of Obama’s inauguration, and that Seoul will not attempt to back Washington up as it seeks dialogue with Pyongyang. He instead appears to be saying that Seoul will wait to persuade Washington of the need for concurrent talks if the United States and North Korea proceed with dialogue at a time when there is no direct ongoing conversation between Seoul and Pyongyang.

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