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The U.S. government showed a cool reaction Monday (local time) to the “package agreement,” or “grand bargain,” proposed by President Lee Myung-bak as a solution to the North Korean nuclear issue. This indicates a difference of opinion on the issue between two countries known to be staunch allies.

In response to a question about the government’s position on President Lee’s “grand bargain” during a regular briefing Tuesday, U.S. State Department Spokesperson Ian Kelly responded evasively, saying that the agreement “is his (President Lee’s) policy, these were his remarks,” and that it is “really not for me to comment on the particulars.” Instead of offering a direct response to the follow-up question about whether Lee’s grand bargain represented a change in approach, Kelly explained, “I think we all agree that the final goal is the complete denuclearization” of North Korea.

This reference to a statement made by the leader of an ally as “his policy” and “his remarks” in a U.S. State Department briefing explaining the official position of the U.S. government is exceptional enough to be viewed as a “diplomatic slight.” A former South Korean senior official in foreign affairs and national security explained, “Even when two countries have policies that don’t coincide, the general rule is to stop at something like, ‘We have no misunderstandings on each other’s position.’” The former official interpreted Kelly’s comments as indicating that the U.S. is “displeased or nonplussed with the South Korean government.”

Other signs of trouble between South Korea and the U.S. emerged in a briefing just after a meeting between South Korean and U.S. foreign ministers on Monday (local time). U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said that he was not really familiar with President Lee’s “grand bargain” plan and that it had not been brought up at all during the ministers’ meeting. Observers are indicating that a serious problem is present when the highest-ranking U.S. working-level official on the North Korean nuclear issue is unfamiliar with the content of President Lee’s proposal.

Meanwhile, an official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade explained Wednesday that the plan was “explained to the U.S. Embassy in Korea, but Mr. Campbell was in Japan on business and it looks like he had not received a proper report.” This explanation is not entirely satisfactory, however. An article in the Tuesday edition of the New York Times reports that the U.S. government was surprised by President Lee’s proposal. The article shows that this is not a one-time incident. In particular, the article quoted a senior administration official as saying that the idea of a “grand bargain” to solve the entire nuclear problem seemed “far-fetched.”

So why would the U.S. be upset with the South Korean government? First off, President Lee gave an interview with Kyodo News and Yonhap News on Sept. 15 in which he called upon Japan to join in pressuring North Korea. On the same day, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton indicated active determination on the U.S.’s part to engage in discussions with North Korea and said, “One of the ways we perhaps can get North Korea to engage is by explaining, directly and clearly, what the purpose is and what the possible consequences and incentives could be.”

Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan also issued a flurry of strong statements in public on Friday. Yu said, “North Korea’s goal is Communist unification, and it has developed nuclear weapons as a means of accomplishing that.” There is a possibility that the U.S. interpreted his remarks to mean that the South Korean government finds North Korea-U.S. dialogue disagreeable. Indeed, during the talk between the South Korea and U.S. foreign ministers on Monday, South Korea called for “cautious bilateral dialogue” between North Korea and the U.S.

In addition, the contents of the Lee’s grand bargain involves offering measures for North Korea only after spent fuel rods and extracted plutonium have been removed overseas, steps that correspond to nearly the final stage of resolving the nuclear issue. Observers are saying that to all appearances, Lee’s announcement could lead to some allegations of hindering the U.S. attempts to engage in dialogue by considerably raising the starting threshold for a solution. “Ever since former President Bill Clinton’s visit to Pyongyang, the U.S. has been engaging in diplomacy to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue, and meanwhile, South Korea has been engaging in politics,” said Kim Yeon-cheol, head of the Hankyoreh Peace Research Institute. Kim warned that differences in opinion between South Korea and the U.S. could grow in the future.

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