Cool Korea relations turn colder

Dealing with North Korea requires one main virtue: Patience.

So in the South Korean capital they wait and wait and wait: They wait for reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong Il to muster his courage and get his act together for talks. They wait for Washington – while making the best of what is felt as US delay in dealing with the last standoff of the cold war.

Now they even wait for lame-duck President Kim Dae Jung's term to end in December, so a new tone for talks can be set.

Talks and a historic year-2000 reconciliation between the two heavily armed Koreas became dormant shortly after the Bush term began. The White House desired a "policy review" on North Korea – part of a larger US shift in Asia that reaffirmed Japan as the region's central ally and moved toward a robust friendship with Taiwan that greatly irritates China.

Then came Sept. 11, followed by President Bush's terming of North Korea as part of an "axis of evil" that includes Iran and Iraq.

Only last month did North-South dialogue in the Koreas resume, along with meetings between families estranged for 50 years. But that was short-lived.

This week, a symbolic signing in Seoul to open a railway and clear mines was cancelled by the North's protocol-busting Kim. The man known as Dear Leader by his deeply-controlled population was annoyed by comments in a US newspaper that quoted South Korea's foreign minister. Kim backed out.

Finally, it is felt here, the White House this month is sending its first envoy, James Pritchard, to the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, to begin establishing the elements of a relationship with one of the most closed states in the world.

Privately, many South Korean diplomats feel White House delay sank a sensitive reconciliation process that took years to develop. They say Bush's early lackluster support of the South's Kim allowed the North's Kim to back out of talks. They say, moreover, that they now see little difference in approach between the current and previous US administrations.

"They have just wasted time," a senior official here stated wearily. "The White House is now back pretty much to where we left off with Clinton. In the meantime, we lost 16 months. I'm not sure the region is any better off.

"The Japanese are still talking about the same stuff with Pyongyang."

Welcome to the waning days in Seoul of the once-lauded "sunshine policy," and its Nobel prize-winning architect, Kim Dae Jung. Few experts anticipate the next leader of the South will be able to offer the North anything like the generous package Kim did. In many ways, the smile of sunshine two years ago has become something of a smirk in recent months.

For his part, President Kim, despite his peace prize and his cohosting with Japan of the soccer World Cup next month, is leaving with a touch of ignominy. His three sons are being investigated for influence peddling and corruption in a scandal known as "The Three Hongs." This week, Kim resigned as leader of his party.

Page: 1 | 2