[imText1]Professor Lee Choon Kun (Ehwa Women’s University, Vice President of Center for Free Enterprise) said regarding the current government’s foreign policy “The longevity of the Roh Moo Hyun government’s foreign policy ended last year when North Korea conducted its nuclear experiment” and criticized “We have come to the worst situation possible though the government denies this.”
In an interview with the DailyNK on the 19th, Professor Lee who recently presented a book titled “the Realist International Politics” condemned the government “President Roh said ‘Everything else can be set aside as long as the South-North relationship goes well’ and now that North Korea possesses nuclear weapons, consequently Roh Moo Hyun’s foreign policy has failed.”
He said “The Roh Moo Hyun government is oblivious of the fact that the North Korean issue is not only an problem for the Korean Peninsula but a world issue” and “The world does not only consist of the Korean Peninsula.” Professor Lee argued that the North’s nuclear issue had to be solved in collaboration with the international community.
Using the Roh Moo Hyun governments “autonomy diplomacy” and “autonomy national defense” as an example he said “The most important profits of a country is security, then power, prosperity and prestige” and said “If autonomy or explicitly upholding a policy incurs harm to security, then it is clearly a flawed policy.”
Regarding the Sunshine policy, he said “I question whether this policy is suitable to be the national policy” and argued “The belief that North Korea will change according to our desires as we support them economically is simply underestimating the fact that North Korea may have a political organization with respectable power.”
Professor Lee said “North Korea is not a country that will be easily changed, though our government claims that the Sunshine policy can change North Korea ‘on the spur of the moment” and reexamined “Isn’t it possible that North Korea counteracted to our Sunshine policy by crafting nukes and becoming a ‘strong nation?’”
He said “On the position of strategy, the North Korean government is much more advanced than South Korea” and added “In the international community, North Korea with a greater will to survive is more a realistic than South Korea.”
International politics is realism, the South-North relationship must undeniably implement
[imText2]The development of North Korea’s nuclear issue “will not transcend the U.S. presidential election and the China Olympics in 2008” Professor Lee prospected and remarked “We will see a rapid development in all issues encompassing North Korea.”
“If North Korea’s nuke issue is not resolved by 2008, this means that the Republicans will lose the next U.S. presidential election, and in China’s position, this means that the Olympics will be held yielding a grave international issue that is right in front of its nose” and “(The U.S. and China will make an) attempt to achieve immediate results” he explained.
However, he said “The North’s nuclear issue cannot be resolved through the 6 party talks” and “It seems that the members of the talks are viewing the 6 party talks as ‘management’ rather than a ‘resolution’ to the North’s nuclear issue.”
He said “Every country works to the advantage of one’s own country but Koreans who seem to think that ‘every country should work for world peace’” and stated “this is only an romantic view of international politics.”
Further, he explained “In the realm of international politics, we must remember that threats may occur at anytime” and “This undoubtedly applies to the South-North relationship where each possesses its own sovereignty.”
