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'Tough' Park makes mark in Washington

By Zhao Jinglun: 0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, May 13, 2013

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U.S. President Barack Obama (R) and visiting South Korean President Park Geun-hye attend a joint press conferece after their meetings in the East Room of the White House in Washington D.C., capital of the United States, May 7, 2013. [Xinhua]

"President Park is tough. She has a very clear, realistic view of the situation, but she also has the wisdom to believe that conflict is not inevitable and is not preferable." So said President Obama of the ROK President Park Geun-hye after meeting and talking with her in the Oval Office. He endorsed her blueprint for standing firm against, but also trying to defuse tension with, the DPRK.

Seoul had high hopes for Park's Washington visit, which her office had described as "historical". The ROK president's office even created a special English-language slogan for the summit, something which it had never done before. The slogan read: "Bound by trust. Forward together."

There is no question that Park is tough. Her mother was shot by an assassin; and her father, Park Chung-hee, the ROK's strong man and former dictator, died in similar circumstances. Park herself was the victim of a vicious razor attack to her face. At 61, she remains unmarried, saying that she is dedicated to serving her country.

She addressed a joint Congress in Washington in English without notes. She reiterated her trade mark policy toward Pyongyang: the "Korean Peninsula trust process", or the "Seoul process", which she had now developed into the "Northeast Asia peace and cooperation initiative." She said that North Korea is welcome to take part in the process on the condition that it gives up its nuclear arms and stops provocations.

Park and Obama also marked the sixtieth anniversary of the alliance between the two countries, which is very much an alliance of unequal partners. It is clear that Washington leads and Seoul follows, but don't always see eye to eye on issues. The Obama administration wants its allies Japan and the ROK to work closer together. But in addition to disputes over the issues of "comfort women" and the ownership of some rocks, Park, in her address, aimed a stinging barb at Abe et al without mentioning names, saying: "Those who are blind to the past cannot see the future."

There is also the question of just how far Washington will go to allow South Korea to develop its own nuclear fuel cycle. That issue surrounded the renewal of a 1974 civilian nuclear accord with the ROK which is due to expire in 2014. It is a major issue in Seoul, as it prohibits Seoul from enriching or reprocessing its own nuclear fuel. Washington deems the prohibition important because it keeps Seoul from gaining the technology to build its own nuclear weapon.

Park raised the issue not only in her talks with Obama, but also in her address to the joint Congress. Obama remains concerned that if the U.S. permitted Seoul to produce nuclear fuel, it would be impossible to persuade Pyongyang to "denuclearize" the Korean Peninsula. And that is the major target all Northeast Asian powers are trying to achieve.

Park's visit to Washington coincided with the apparent easing of the situation on the Korean Peninsula, with Pyongyang withdrawing its Musadan missiles from the east coast. The DPRK, however, severely criticized Park's U.S. visit, claiming that it had heightened tensions on the Peninsula.

In terms of tension, the arrival in Busan of the nuclear powered supercarrier, the USS Nimitz (CVN-68), will surely aggravate the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

Both Washington and Seoul hope that China will put pressure on Pyongyang and they were doubtless encouraged when the Bank of China shut down transfers to North Korea's Foreign Trade Bank, a vital source for the DPRK government. China, however, took this measure in response to the UN resolution imposing further sanctions on the DPRK following Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile tests, not in response to any pressure from the U.S.

President Park has indicated that a visit to Beijing will follow hot on the heels of her Washington trip. She came to Beijing back in 2005 for talks with then president Hu Jingtao. The talks were conducted in Chinese, a task well within the compass of the polyglot Park, who speaks fluent Korean, French, English and Chinese. It will be interesting indeed to see what happens when she returns to Beijing as the ROK president.

The author is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:

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