LET THE BIG DOG EAT:

TOWARD ONE KOREA
Part I: Seoul goes from ally to arbiter (David Scofield, 11/15/03, Asia Times)

When US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrives here on Sunday, he will find a South Korea that has drifted far from its former status as a staunch ally of the United States and into an increasingly cozy relationship with the "axis of evil" member north of the Demilitarized Zone.

A year ago South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun promised the nation that he would spare no effort to "engage" North Korean leader Kim Jong-il; he pledged to "equalize" the US-Korea relationship, largely defined by the presence of 37,000 soldiers in South Korea and viewed by many as symbolic of national weakness; and further vowed to "mediate" future disputes between the US and North Korea, playing arbiter rather than ally.

Roh has kept his word, and strong coercive steps, the sort that can curb a dictator's dangerous behavior and enforce some modicum of respect for human life, will not, it seems, come from the South.

Unlike the united front Washington and Seoul presented to Pyongyang in 1994, the South Korean administration has made it very clear that no amount of Northern belligerence and bellicosity will sway it from its objective of a placated, "peaceful" North Korea. This should serve as a wake-up call for all those within the US administration who pin their hopes for peace on a negotiated settlement with the present leadership in North Korea.

Good--that makes an American military response to the North Korean nuclear program more tenable, because it matters less to us if they retaliate against a former ally.

Posted by Orrin Judd at November 14, 2003 10:45 AM