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Bush goes down like lead balloon

By Ronald Meinardus

Tuesday, Apr 24, 2001, Page 9

ILLUSTRATION: YU SHA

Whatever your personal opinion about the new US President may be, supporters and foes cannot but agree that his foreign policy has not received good grades in the media.

Editorial pages are filled with negative views about the president on the stage of international diplomacy. These voices reflect the disappointment and anger many governments sense regarding the foreign policy of the new administration. In just a few weeks the former Texan governor succeeded in snubbing the European allies on more than one occasion.

Probably, the most serious provocation in the eyes of the Europeans has been the decision to renounce the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, aimed at reducing global warming. Furthermore, fundamental trans-Atlantic differences have become apparent in dealing with the Russians.

The Europeans wish to engage Moscow, where and whenever possible, while the US -- at this stage -- prefer picking fights, making some observers wonder whether the decision-makers in the White House have not realized the Cold War is over. And, third, there is Korea, not really a center of attention for any European government, but an issue, where the Europeans have from the very beginning supported the Sunshine Policy of President Kim Dae-jung. This can not be said of the Bush administration, which may be called the gravedigger of the conciliatory process.

"Sometimes I get up in the morning and wonder who we're going to offend today," a senior career diplomat at the US State Department was quoted as saying a few days ago. The problem with the new team in the White House, if at all we may call it a team, is: their actions are often out of sync with the etiquette of international diplomacy, a fact that weighs heavily especially in East Asia, where much attention is attributed to formalities. Bush's behavior affects international Realpolitik, as it seems to lead us away from a world, in which disputes and conflicts are settled in negotiations and by dialogue, to a world, in which military might and power once again take centre stage. The US president "may well be the most conservative, partisan and hawkish leader his country has ever seen," a British paper opined recently under the provocative headline: "Bush is a threat to the world."

The displeasure of many a European commentator at US behavior is shared by the governments of the old continent. One area, in which the Europeans have decided to get involved directly with the aim of counterbalancing the negative effects the shift of US foreign policy has had is the Korean peninsula. In early May a senior EU delegation will visit Pyongyang and Seoul. It is the first time the Europeans will nail their colors to the mast in a region traditionally considered the strategic backyard of the US.

"The aim is to express support for the process started by the South Korean President Kim Dae-jung," said the Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU in the first six months of this year, and who will lead the delegation.

Stockholm's foreign minister was more explicit: "It's becoming clear that the new US administration wants to take a more hard-line approach toward North Korea. Europe must step in to help reduce tension between the two Koreas." The Europeans' diplomatic mission has been prepared carefully. In early March, the Swedish State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Hans Dahlgren, went to Pyongyang to pave the way for the European-North Korean summit.

Two weeks later, the North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Choi, Su-hon stopped over in Stockholm during a tour of European capitals. While in Pyongyang, Dahlgren fixed most details of the upcoming high-level European visit. From what has transpired (and recorded in Dahlgren's report to the other EU-governments) the Europeans will not confine themselves to a photo session with the "Dear Leader."

The North Koreans have accepted all the important points of the agenda proposed by the Europeans: the EU delegation is expected to have "full and substantial discussions with Chairman Kim Jong-il," the North Koreans assured the Europeans that they remained "fully committed to implement the North-South Joint Declaration" of June 15. It may be assumed the South Koreans are aware of this agenda. Yet, quite surprisingly, the European initiative has been met with all but wholehearted approval in the South. Some commentators in the media even suggested the Europeans better keep out: "Drawing the EU into the Korean Peninsula will only complicate matters with no practical effect," wrote one newspaper. Another columnist stated "the EU intervention may eventually create more problems than solutions on the path to permanent peace."

Meanwhile, the South Korean government publicly "distanced" herself from the European project. "It's their independent initiative," said the new Foreign Minister Han Seung-soo. "We wouldn't like to see the EU's visit misconstrued by others as if we asked them," the minister, who has been praised for his cordial relations with the right wing of the political spectrum in the US, remarked. This statement shows just how anxious the government in Seoul has recently become more eager to avoid anything that could possibly irritate Washington.

This also became visible when the South Korean government filed an official protest with a major US newspaper, that had reported President Kim had "stepped up his pleas for an EU role after the disappointing talks with Bush in Washington."

This wording may be inaccurate as to timing, but in substance it is correct: President Kim Dae-jung may indeed have refrained from inviting the European initiative after his humiliating encounter with President Bush in early March. On the other hand, it is recorded that the South Korean President raised the idea of a summit between the EU-Presidency and the North Korean leader after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize last year.

But that was, one should not forget, last year, at a time when the US was governed by President Bill Clinton, a staunch supporter of the engagement policy.

Things have changed, since George W. Bush and his entourage moved into the White House. Not only has the new Chief Executive effectively brought to a standstill the Korean peace process, it also seems he has let the South Koreans know, that the political music plays in Washington, and not in Stockholm, Brussels, let alone Pyongyang. The US might not be enthusiastic about the European initiative, but there is little they can do to prevent it.

Therefore, all those in South Korea, who prematurely demonstrated to be more Catholic than the Pope regarding US political exclusiveness in this part of the world, should pause for a moment, and take into consideration, that even their trans-Pacific guardian has openly supported the European effort. As is right and proper among governments that profess to be allies, the Swedish state secretary for foreign affairs visited Washington in early April to share with the US the details of the upcoming EU mission to the Koreas. And guess what the US told him: They expressed their support and encouragement for the European efforts to engage North Korea!

Ronald Meinardus is the resident representative of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation in Seoul and a commentator on Korean affairs.
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