Vershbow and Lee Jae-jung Disagree on North Korea Issues

Vershbow and Lee Jae-jung Disagree on North Korea Issues. May. 05, 2007 03:02. gun43@donga.com weappon@donga.com.

"It is important for South Korea and the U.S. to send the same message to North Korea at the six-party talks and South-North meetings. South-North cooperation should be geared to the progress in the six party talk agreements," said Alexander Vershbow, the U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, during a luncheon forum hosted by the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation in the Orchid Room, Chosun Hotel, Seoul, on May 4, concerning the speed of South-North relations.

"The U.S. supports [the engagement policy of South Korea toward North Korea] as a way of promoting reconciliation and cooperation in the Korean Peninsula, but the nuclear disarmament of North Korea and the engagement policy should be carried out in a well-coordinated way," Ambassador Vershbow stated. "If the engagement policy is advanced on its own, the result will be that peace will be promoted even when the nuclear programs of North Korea hinder the peace."

It can be interpreted that such comments indirectly express his opinion that the excessive movements of the ruling party figure to improve South-North relations, such as the rushed visits to North Korea and the promotion for a South-North summit meeting, are not appropriate in a situation where North Korea is not fulfilling the nuclear shut-down measures based on the 2-13 Agreement reached at the six-party talks.

But Minister of Unification Lee Jae-jung, during a briefing held at the central government complex in Sejongno, Jongno-gu, Seoul, regarding the six party talks and the progress in South-North relations, said, “What is more important than the priority issue is how to achieve goals effectively, and South-North relations can provide motivation for the development of the six-party talks." This actually refutes the comments made by Ambassador Vershbow.

Minister Lee also described South-North relations as “A very important political and national task” and asserted, "All the processes involved in achieving improved NK-U.S. relations and the 2-13 Agreement were in the actual sense based on the deep and profound development in South-North relations that have been achieved so far. South-North relations are more important than anything else."

Such awareness is also dissimilar from what Ambassador Vershbow said on the same day: "The six-party talks and the engagement policy need to be complemented and coordinated for the true security of the Korean Peninsula."

During the forum on this day, Ambassador Vershbow, regarding the possibility of nuclear disarmament of North Korea within the remainder of President George W. Bush`s term, one year and nine months, said, “I think the answer is positive. It won`t take more than several weeks for North Korea to shut down the Yongbyon nuclear reactor and invite the IAEA inspectors in, and its nuclear disarmament can also take place within months."

Ambassador Vershbow also predicted that, “The nuclear disarmament of North Korea can begin at the end of this year or early next year."

But many experts expect that North Korea is likely to delay the fulfillment of disabling measures, considering that it is delaying the shutdown of nuclear facilities for which the initial deadline was April 14 according to the 2-13 Agreement.