Obama Talks Tough on North Korea

Standing next to one another at a joint press conference, Presidents Barack Obama and Lee Myung-bak affirmed their commitment to ending North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

Their summit comes after months of uncertainty over the future of multinational talks aimed at persuading the Kim Jong-il regime to give up its nuclear ambitions. Earlier this year Pyongyang tested a nuclear device and vowed never to relinquish its atomic arsenal. But in recent months the hostile rhetoric has vanished and North Korea has shown interest in engaging once again.

Obama says he and President Lee see through this pattern. “North Korea behaves in a provocative fashion it then is willing to return to talks, it talks for awhile, then it leaves the talks, seeking further concessions, and there is never actually any progress on the core issues. I think President Lee is exactly right and my administration is taking the same approach.”

Seoul supports Washington’s North Korea policy

Both Obama and Lee agreed that North Korea must denuclearize in one step. And the South Korean leader gave his support for Washington’s intention to engage Pyongyang in one on one talks prior to the resumption of multilateral negotiations.

Choi Kang, director of American Studies at the government funded Institute for Foreign Affairs and National Security in Seoul, says this is the first time in a decade that both nations have seen eye to eye on how to approach North Korea.

“Now, regarding our interpretation and understanding of North Korea’s reconciliatory gestures, there is no difference between the United States and South Korea.”

Afghanistan issue

Choi says this close cooperation is a sign that the US’s partnership with South Korea is as strong as ever.

Another sign is that Seoul has recently announced its plans to send a provincial reconstruction team, or PRT, to Afghanistan to assist the US with redevelopment there. A few hundred Korean troops are to go with them and serve in non-combat roles. But many South Koreans don’t want their soldiers to be sent to Afghanistan in any capacity.

For the past few weeks and during Obama’s visit here in Seoul, peaceful demonstrations were held in protest at the planned military deployment.

In 2007, Seoul withdrew its 200 military medics and engineers from Afghanistan after 23 Korean Christian missionaries were kidnapped by the Taliban. Two were murdered by their captors. The others were released after several weeks.

Lee Tae-ho is with the group People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy. He is worried something like this may happen again. “There could be more cases of violence against South Korean civilians,” he says. “After our involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq, our reputation has been hurt. South Koreans have been the targets of attacks in Yemen and just recently South Koreans were attacked in Afghanistan.“

During his summit with President Lee, Barack Obama welcomed South Korea’s offer to redeploy its forces to Afghanistan. But the decision will first have to be voted on in the National Assembly. The bill is expected to pass since the President’s party holds the majority of seats. The opposition has vowed to block it.

Author:Jason Strother (Seoul)
Editor: Grahame Lucas