Nat’l Assembly speaker’s changing attitude towards the U.S.

Nat’l Assembly speaker’s changing attitude towards the U.S.. September. 19, 2016 07:15. by 한기흥기자 eligius@donga.com.

Rep. Chung Sye-kyun, speaker of the National Assembly, who once said that he would not eat U.S. beef, has stressed the importance of strengthening the ties between South Korea and the U.S. In a speech at Korea Society on Thursday, he praised the U.S. for its contributions to Korea’s prosperity, saying, “The Korea-U.S. alliance is essential to the very existence of Korea.” When he met House Speaker Paul Ryan on Tuesday, “Korean opposition parties do not fundamentally oppose Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD).” It is welcome that they do not oppose THAAD but his comment makes us a little confusing.

Chung earned a master’s degree in administration in the U.S. and lived in New York and Los Angeles in the 1980s when he was in his 30s as a dispatched employee of a trading company. However, when there was a protest against the import of U.S. beef in 2008, he participated in the protest for 72 straight hours without even mentioning his own experience about U.S. beef. He even issued a personal statement, “The people are fighting and you should not take a step back for one reason or another.” When the opposition Democratic Party stopped a struggle outside the National Assembly and returned to the Assembly, he, as a party leader, asked for the understanding of the leadership of a group that fought against the import of U.S. beef who were wanted by police.

When the Democratic Party demanded for re-re-negotiation of the free trade agreement between Korea and the U.S. in 2011, he claimed that the Lee Myung-bak administration’s renegotiation broke the balance of interests of both countries and Korea needs to regain the balance. During his visit to the U.S., however, he has changed his words, saying, “The KOR-U.S. FTA should be fully implemented. It has been beneficial to both countries and is expected to generate more jobs.” It makes us curious why he toned down after he stirred controversy over political neutrality as speaker of the National Assembly by criticizing the government for its stance on THAAD in an opening remark of the regular parliamentary session.

It is desirable that Chung, who visited the U.S. with floor leaders of both ruling and opposition parties, sought bipartisan diplomacy in the wake of North Korea’s fifth nuclear test. However, it is doubtful whether the U.S. would believe him should he had just changed his words to win its favor. Some opposition party lawmakers who used to call for the withdrawal of U.S. tactical nuclear weapon, saying, “Anti-war anti-nuclear weapon, Yankee Go Home!” as a student protestor, now keep silence about North Korea’s nuclear weapons. We need to verify politicians’ changing words.