During an evening stroll through the South Korean capital recently, it was hard to miss the irony of a certain Beatles tune drifting out of a karaoke club: "Here Comes the Sun."
In George Harrison's ode to love and optimism, the sun signified that hope was just around the corner. The same idea drove President Kim Dae-jung's drive for reconciliation with North Korea, dubbed his "sunshine policy." After years of darkness between Seoul and Pyongyang, the sun seemed to be rising again.
That was until George W. Bush pulled off the diplomatic equivalent of a lunar eclipse. The US president's decision to lump North Korea with Iraq and Iran as part of an "axis of evil" knocked the sunshine out of South Korea's diplomatic orbit.
Hopefully, Bush will use this week's visit to Seoul to make up for that mistake. Or at least give the world a clearer sense of what his administration has in store for the Korean peninsula. No one here, or anywhere else, seems to know.
A more balanced approach
The point here isn't to paint North Korea as a benevolent nation or misunderstood victim. The world's leaders have every reason to be wary of events in one of the most reclusive nations.
North Korea continues to export missiles around the world and hasn't agreed to international inspection of all of its nuclear facilities.
Moreover, Pyongyang houses much of its military along South Korea's border, raising tensions. A drive 48km north of Seoul to the 39th parallel amply demonstrates the point. Visiting the demilitarized zone, or DMZ, is to step back into the days of the Cold War. North Korean and South Korean soldiers, rifles at the ready, stare one another down on either side of the DMZ. It's a tense place to be. Some 37,000 US troops are there, too.
North Korea is hardly a trusted friend of the US. But is driving North Korea's 22 million people deeper into isolation the answer? Bush did that, and then some, with last month's State of the Union speech.
Pyongyang said Bush's comments were "little short of a declaration of war." North Korea also labeled the US the "empire of the devil" in response to Bush's proposal for the biggest increase in US defense spending since the Cold War days of the early 1980s.
Bush's advisers may not have appreciated the power of the president's "axis of power" remark here in South Korea, one of Washington's most important friends. Asia's third-largest economy is experiencing its best days since the 1997 Asian financial crisis. That performance has been accompanied by a growing sense of confidence and security among this nation's 47 million people.
Give credit were credit is due
Kim's success in lowering tensions on the Korean peninsula is major reason why. Those efforts earned him the Nobel Prize for peace. Yet with a few ill-considered words, a mere sound bite, Bush restored the anxiety many South Koreans were beginning to forget.
This marked the second time Bush humiliated Kim. The first came last year when Kim visited the White House. The latest one was an even stronger sign that Bush has no patience for North Korea.
Or does it? It'd be nice if the Bush Administration would make up its mind and let us know. When asked what the administration had in store for North Korea, officials at first downplayed fears they might provoke North Korea. Days later, the hawkish stance was back. Now, where the Bush White House stands is anyone's guess. Hence, there were anti-Bush protests this week in Seoul.
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