[imText1]The BDA issue, which has dragged the North Korean nuclear issue for four months and 10 days after the “February 13 Agreement”, has been resolved. North Korea has invited the International Atomic and Energy Agency (IAEA) working-level delegation and is about to actually carry out the “February 13 Agreement.” Further, the IAEA working-level delegation will visit North Korea within the week and will discuss with the North regarding the scope of activity and the authority of the inspectorate.
Related to this, Peter Beck, International Crisis Group’s Northeast Asia Project Director, said on the 19th that the abolishment of North Korea’s nuclear weapons will depend on North Korea’s will. Director Beck said in a meeting with DailyNK at the Seoul Press Center that, “There is always possibility that North Korea will shout ‘stop’ in the denuclearization process.” “Currently, the Yongbyun nuclear facilities are not absolutely necessary for North Korea, so the abandonment of the facility can be easily done.”
Mr. Beck said that what is entirely important is what happens after the abolition. “North Korea can compromise on the abandonment of the Yongbyun nuclear facilities, but the process of negotiating with the IAEA regarding the submission of the nuclear program list including all nuclear materials will be difficult.”
“The six party talks which were held last several years have been unsuccessful and we have not yet verified whether North Korea has the intention to resolve the nuclear issue peacefully,” proposed Beck regarding North Korea’s will to abandon nuclear weapons.
“Can not perfectly inspection abolition of nuclear weapons until the Kim Jong Il regime collapses.”
Director Beck also proposed doubt regarding whether or not complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula is feasible. He expressed, “Neither the U.S. nor the IAEA can accurately verify how much nuclear materials are remaining, even with denuclearization, until the Kim Jong Il regime collapses.”
Thus, he warned, “North Korea will negotiate with the U.S. with its nuclear card at any time. Depending on how much it receives from the U.S. might create more flexibility, but if it is not satisfied, it will say, “We are already receiving a lot from South Korea and cannot negotiate based on these conditions.”
At the end of July, he will wrap up his three-year involvement at the ICG and will leave for Washington, D.C. to serve as the Executive Secretary at the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea. He is fascinated that he is returning the U.S. to work on North Korean human rights when he has been an expert on the North Korean nuclear issue and Northeast Asian security for several years in Seoul.
Mr. Beck expressed that he could not understand South Korea’s progressive camp’s silence on “North Korean human rights.”
At the end of May 1987, while attending the Berkeley University in California, he coincidentally observed the “June resistance” while on a backpacking trip to South Korea. Upon returning to the U.S., he learned about Korea’s leftist party’s ideology and history from Professor Lee Young Hee, who was an exchange professor at the time. Professor Lee was an intellectual who has made a significant contribution by inspiring the leftists’ history among college students in the 80s and was a representative portrait of the socialist leftist. Mr. Beck was ideologically positioned on the progressive leftist side, calling himself America’s 386 generation, who took part in student’s socialism movement for South Korean democratization during 1980s.
However, he surmised, “The progressive party in the U.S. is different from the progressive party in South Korea.” The reason for this is that progressive people in South Korea have nothing to say about the North Korean human rights issue. Director Beck evaluated that the disinterest in the North Korean human rights issue is not limited to the progressive leftist party. Korean people do not have an interest in North Korea and actually, foreigners seem to have more of an interest.”
He gave what seemed like a critical remark regarding the apathy of South Korean society towards the North Korean issue. “There is something I would like to request of students. It is to have an interest in North Korea whether they decide on a conservative or a progressive perspective regarding North Korea. Whether it is North Korean human rights, the food shortage issue, or humanitarian aid, please select something.”
“President Bush or Roh Moo Hyun are the worst presidents of generations.”
The reporter asked Mr. Beck the difficult question of whether his teacher, Professor Lee’s lack of interest in North Korea has had an influence on the progressive powers in contemporary South Korea.” He replied, “This is difficult to answer as his pupil. One can regard North Korea with a soft or hard approach, but silence (regarding North Korean human rights) is a problem.”
Regarding the U.S.-South Korean alliance, he scolded President Bush and Roh Moo Hyun as the worst presidents in history. He evaluated, “The presidents are not ideal for U.S.-Korea relations as well as for national interest.”
Peter Beck, while acting as the Northeast Asia Project Director at the ICG, also held additional posts as a Professor at Ewha Womans University and as a Policy Evaluation Committee Member at the Ministry of Unification. Before joining the ICG, he was a lecturer at Georgetown and American University and was a Research and Science Chair at the U.S.-Korea Economic Research Institute (1997~2004), which are located in Washington D.C. He was also a former lecturer at University of California in San Diego and a translator at the Korea Foundation Cultural Center. He has also worked as a secretary at the Korean National Assembly and at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
