The Wall Street Journal
Seoul's 'Balancing' Role
May 31, 2005
Seoul's 'Balancing' Role
May 31, 2005
South Korea's President Roh Moo Hyun appears to have taken great umbrage at a Japanese diplomat's comment that Washington no longer trusts the government in Seoul. But anyone reading the diplomat's remarks would find them, well, unremarkable and not that new.
After all, much of what Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi uttered reflects what Seoul itself is saying. Mr. Roh's desire to move South Korea away from its traditional alliances with Japan and the U.S., and closer to China -- a dubious strategy that purports to give South Korea the grand-sounding role of "balancer in Northeast Asia" -- has been subjected to much criticism in Seoul.
That is because many South Koreans have not forgotten that it was the U.S. that led the coalition that liberated the capitalist South after it was invaded in 1950 by communist North Korea. Today, 36,000 U.S. soldiers are still stationed in the lower half of the peninsula, putting their lives on the line to keep South Koreans free.
Mr. Roh recently derided Koreans who think this way. "Some educated South Koreans who speak in a way more like Americans than Americans are of the greatest concern," he said while on a visit to Turkey last month.
All Mr. Yachi added is that Mr. Roh's balancing act is one reason Japan cannot pass to Seoul confidential information on North Korea. He is reported to have told South Korean MPs that "since the United States does not have sufficient trust in South Korea, Japan finds it a problem to share information it has received from Washington with South Korea."
"The United States and Japan stand to the right, and China and North Korea to the left. South Korea appears to be moving from the center to the left," Mr. Yachi went on, according to reports in several media outlets. Mr. Yachi last Friday indirectly confirmed that he made the remarks when he expressed regrets that they had come to light even though he said he had made them in a private context.
South Korea's government immediately demanded an apology from Tokyo. So virulent has been Seoul's reaction that a summit between Mr. Roh and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi slated for late June appeared to come close to being canceled.
But Seoul's angry reaction shows how successful Mr. Roh has already been in destroying the amity that used to prevail in the Seoul-Tokyo-Washington triangle, and how closely his government copies Beijing's own Japan-bashing rhetoric. Relations with Seoul's old allies have deteriorated in 2005.
Since early in the year, Mr. Roh has been dropping mentions of his "balancing" role into major speeches, including those he makes to the National Assembly or to armed forces. He told MPs in February that "our military should be one with the right to operate independently to serve as a balancer in Northeast Asia."
Then over the next two months South Korean news media consistently reported signs that Seoul was putting distance between itself and Tokyo. The Korea Times on March 28 quoted Defense Ministry spokesman Shin Hyun-don as saying that "in line with government policy, we are considering reducing military exchanges with Japan." This followed President Roh's own call for a "diplomatic war" with Japan over competing claims to some islands.
On April 6 the Dong-A Ilbo newspaper said the Defense Ministry was planning a policy desk that would increase military cooperation with China and Russia. This followed a policy announcement by Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung that military ties with China would be strengthened, putting them on par with cooperation with Japan. Mr. Yoon also said this gesture was a follow-up to President Roh's design for South Korea to become a "balancing force in the Northeast Asian region," Dong-A reported.
Also in April Mr. Roh's government vetoed a U.S. plan for a joint armed intervention in North Korea in case the impoverished but possibly nuclear-armed Stalinist state implodes. Mr. Roh's coddling of Pyongyang has, of course, also put him at odds with the Bush administration, and in line with Beijing.
But even China's government may find Mr. Roh's overly solicitous behavior toward North Korea burdensome. An opposition lawmaker told the Yonhap news agency in April that Beijing had complained to Washington that Seoul's appeasement was an obstacle to convincing Pyongyang to return to nuclear disarmament talks it abandoned a year ago.
And those who know the misery that is the daily lives of North Koreans find Mr. Roh's balancer designs a bitter irony. "It's a ridiculous idea to play a mediator's role without considering one's ally," Hwang Jang-yop, the highest North Korean official ever to defect, was quoted by the Korea Times as saying in April.
South Korea's government complains bitterly not just when diplomats remind the world of its own words, but when newspapers such as this do it. It insists that Mr. Roh intends to carry out this policy while retaining a strong alliance with the U.S. But U.S. officials have made it clear that the Bush administration isn't pleased with Mr. Roh's designs.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Christopher Hill recently told the New York Times that "If I were a South Korean looking into the future, I would be saying to myself, 'I want a special relationship with a distant power'." Mr. Hill was referring to the fact that Korea has historically been trampled by nearby powers such as Japan, China or Russia. Past attempts to play a "balancing role" have ended in disaster.
Mr. Roh will be able to explain his "vision" to President George W. Bush, when the two meet next week. Officials from both sides have been reported as saying the balancing act will be on the table on June 11, as well as Seoul's North Korea policy. "There's not much agreement between both sides," a U.S. official told us. Maybe there was so much hoopla over Mr. Yachi's comments because they were valid, not invalid.
After all, much of what Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi uttered reflects what Seoul itself is saying. Mr. Roh's desire to move South Korea away from its traditional alliances with Japan and the U.S., and closer to China -- a dubious strategy that purports to give South Korea the grand-sounding role of "balancer in Northeast Asia" -- has been subjected to much criticism in Seoul.
That is because many South Koreans have not forgotten that it was the U.S. that led the coalition that liberated the capitalist South after it was invaded in 1950 by communist North Korea. Today, 36,000 U.S. soldiers are still stationed in the lower half of the peninsula, putting their lives on the line to keep South Koreans free.
Mr. Roh recently derided Koreans who think this way. "Some educated South Koreans who speak in a way more like Americans than Americans are of the greatest concern," he said while on a visit to Turkey last month.
All Mr. Yachi added is that Mr. Roh's balancing act is one reason Japan cannot pass to Seoul confidential information on North Korea. He is reported to have told South Korean MPs that "since the United States does not have sufficient trust in South Korea, Japan finds it a problem to share information it has received from Washington with South Korea."
"The United States and Japan stand to the right, and China and North Korea to the left. South Korea appears to be moving from the center to the left," Mr. Yachi went on, according to reports in several media outlets. Mr. Yachi last Friday indirectly confirmed that he made the remarks when he expressed regrets that they had come to light even though he said he had made them in a private context.
South Korea's government immediately demanded an apology from Tokyo. So virulent has been Seoul's reaction that a summit between Mr. Roh and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi slated for late June appeared to come close to being canceled.
But Seoul's angry reaction shows how successful Mr. Roh has already been in destroying the amity that used to prevail in the Seoul-Tokyo-Washington triangle, and how closely his government copies Beijing's own Japan-bashing rhetoric. Relations with Seoul's old allies have deteriorated in 2005.
Since early in the year, Mr. Roh has been dropping mentions of his "balancing" role into major speeches, including those he makes to the National Assembly or to armed forces. He told MPs in February that "our military should be one with the right to operate independently to serve as a balancer in Northeast Asia."
Then over the next two months South Korean news media consistently reported signs that Seoul was putting distance between itself and Tokyo. The Korea Times on March 28 quoted Defense Ministry spokesman Shin Hyun-don as saying that "in line with government policy, we are considering reducing military exchanges with Japan." This followed President Roh's own call for a "diplomatic war" with Japan over competing claims to some islands.
On April 6 the Dong-A Ilbo newspaper said the Defense Ministry was planning a policy desk that would increase military cooperation with China and Russia. This followed a policy announcement by Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung that military ties with China would be strengthened, putting them on par with cooperation with Japan. Mr. Yoon also said this gesture was a follow-up to President Roh's design for South Korea to become a "balancing force in the Northeast Asian region," Dong-A reported.
Also in April Mr. Roh's government vetoed a U.S. plan for a joint armed intervention in North Korea in case the impoverished but possibly nuclear-armed Stalinist state implodes. Mr. Roh's coddling of Pyongyang has, of course, also put him at odds with the Bush administration, and in line with Beijing.
But even China's government may find Mr. Roh's overly solicitous behavior toward North Korea burdensome. An opposition lawmaker told the Yonhap news agency in April that Beijing had complained to Washington that Seoul's appeasement was an obstacle to convincing Pyongyang to return to nuclear disarmament talks it abandoned a year ago.
And those who know the misery that is the daily lives of North Koreans find Mr. Roh's balancer designs a bitter irony. "It's a ridiculous idea to play a mediator's role without considering one's ally," Hwang Jang-yop, the highest North Korean official ever to defect, was quoted by the Korea Times as saying in April.
South Korea's government complains bitterly not just when diplomats remind the world of its own words, but when newspapers such as this do it. It insists that Mr. Roh intends to carry out this policy while retaining a strong alliance with the U.S. But U.S. officials have made it clear that the Bush administration isn't pleased with Mr. Roh's designs.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Christopher Hill recently told the New York Times that "If I were a South Korean looking into the future, I would be saying to myself, 'I want a special relationship with a distant power'." Mr. Hill was referring to the fact that Korea has historically been trampled by nearby powers such as Japan, China or Russia. Past attempts to play a "balancing role" have ended in disaster.
Mr. Roh will be able to explain his "vision" to President George W. Bush, when the two meet next week. Officials from both sides have been reported as saying the balancing act will be on the table on June 11, as well as Seoul's North Korea policy. "There's not much agreement between both sides," a U.S. official told us. Maybe there was so much hoopla over Mr. Yachi's comments because they were valid, not invalid.