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Bush’s Last Korean Policy Team Named

Posted May. 18, 2007 03:14,   

한국어

The executive team that will be responsible for America’s Korea policy for the last 20 months of the incumbent George W. Bush Administration has been set up.

The White House announced on May 16 that its affiliated Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) appointed Dr. Paul Heer, a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) senior analyst who has specialized in Chinese affairs, as its National Intelligence Officer for East Asia. Dr. Heer has a Ph.D. degree in diplomatic history from George Washington University and has served on intelligence missions since 1983. Together with Joseph DiTrani, the North Korea Mission manager who has also worked for the CIA, he will play a directing role in intelligence analysis of Korean affairs.

Meanwhile, the White House designated Katrin Fraser, a professional diplomat in her early 30s, as assistant for Korean and Japanese affairs to succeed the post left by Victor Cha, who has recently returned to Georgetown University. Fraser has worked on international organization affairs in the State Department, but since her career in security policy affairs isn’t extensive, it is likely that her role could be limited to executive support.

On a Fulbright Association assistantship, she taught English for a year at Mokpo High School in 2000. In spring 2002, she contributed an article to Korea Society, a quarterly magazine, in which she claimed that the Bush Administration’s lack of understanding of Korea was exacerbating anti-U.S. sentiment.

The new chief Chinese affairs official, a post formerly occupied by Dennis Wilder, who was recently promoted to the post of Senior Director for East Asian Affairs, is to be officially announced soon. It is said that he will be succeeded by an official in the National Security Council.

The State Department, which is pioneering the “new honeymoon era” between Washington and Pyongyang, has had no notable personnel shifts recently. Its staff consists of Assistant Secretary of Staff Christopher Hill, Director of Korean Affairs Sung Kim, and North Korea Unit Chief Yuri Kim, who will keep their leadership positions for the six-party talks. They all served the U.S. Embassy in Seoul in 2003.

In the Department of Defense, Deputy Undersecretary Richard Lawless, who has been a key figure in formulating Washington’s future policies, including those on strategic flexibility, the re-alignment of U.S. forces in Korea, and the Korea-U.S. alliance, will be promoted to undersecretary rank in July. James Shinn, who was recruited from Georgetown University early this year, will be promoted to the post of deputy undersecretary to replace him.



srkim@donga.com