"Things have begun moving slowly," South Korea's President Kim Dae-jung said recently in public reaction to the Bush administration's announcement to open negotiations with Pyongyang after an extensive policy review. No doubt, the government in Seoul is trying hard to spread confidence. Foreign Minister Han Seung-soo, who travelled to Washington in a last-ditch effort to exert influence on the policy formulation process, went so far as to link the American statement with a possible return visit of North Korean strongman Kim Jong-il to Seoul. "[US President George W.] Bush's decision will help form a favorable atmosphere for the holding of a second summit," the minister was quoted as saying.
In view of these and similar announcements, one could almost assume that the dissonances regarding the right way of dealing with North Korea have disappeared. In reality, the two sides are far from being in harmony. Wide gaps remain between the strategic perceptions of North Korea on this side and the other side of the Pacific.
Yes, on the surface Bush's statement signals a shift. It is hard to overlook that the US administration has softened its tone regarding the North Korean "rogues." Though belatedly, the Bush team seems to have understood that from a foreign policy perspective it makes little sense to use hostile language regarding a country or a government with which one is planning to engage diplomatically.
In terms of international relations, the first months of the Bush administration's policy vis-a-vis the Korean peninsula have been a disaster. I do not know of one single government in the world that has openly supported the new president's rough tactics.
Bush and his team have probably caused the largest political damage in South Korea, where they, willingly or not, offended a president, who by some is considered the most pro-American leader this country has ever had, and have alienated a population sick and tired of political subordination.
"In the Blue House the people are terribly disappointed," a close associate of the president confided. The people in the streets are also highly dissatisfied with the effects US policies have had on their own national matters.
According to a recent opinion poll, no less than 66 percent of South Koreans believe the Americans are responsible for the present stalemate in inter-Korean relations. What should worry the US government even more: three out of four South Koreans in their 20s believe the hardening of US policies has caused the breakdown in the process of reconciliation. US officials who are worried about an increase of anti-Americanism should study these figures, as here they may find the causes of the frustration of a majority of Koreans with their trans-Pacific guardian.
It is noteworthy that many South Korean newspaper columnists don't trust the new tone emanating from the lips of the Chief Executive. In substance, these analysts argue, nothing has changed, it is only -- as one friend said -- the old wine in a new bottle. "The tone of the language has changed from negative to affirmative," wrote the commentator of the leading conservative newspaper. "Bush's statement does not contain any major changes to recent US policy toward North Korea."
Another commentator, a senior editorial writer in an equally influential conservative gazette, said: "Although Bush's North Korea policies appear externally to be engagement policies, they are in fact the same old hard-line politics of the Republicans."
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