On Thursday in Gyeongju presidents Roh Moo Hyun and George W. Bush adopted something titled the "Joint Declaration on the ROK-U.S. Alliance and Peace on the Korean Peninsula." It contains basic initiatives for the development of a future-oriented U.S.-Korea alliance and as such is very significant. We hope to see the details of a 21st century-style alliance worked out based on this declaration.
So far the alliance between the U.S. and Korea has been based on the premise that there exists the division of the Korean peninsula and confrontation between its surrounding major powers. Subsequently, much about it did not fit with the atmosphere since the end of the Cold War, in which it has been peace and joint prosperity that have been pursued. The failure to openly recognize that has in fact led to differences of opinion and discord, over issues such as the relocation and reduction of U.S. forces, "strategic flexibility," deploying troops to Iraq, the pace of exchange and cooperation with North Korea, and wartime operational control of the Korean military. Naturally, this joint declaration does not resolve all those issues, and the burden for figuring those out now lies with a format called "Strategic Consultation for Allied Partnership" (SCAP). We hope those ministerial-level strategic consultations that begin next year will indeed become a cornerstone in fostering a "comprehensive, dynamic and mutually-beneficial alliance relationship."
It is also meaningful that the joint declaration mentions the possibility of having the six-party format develop into a multi-party security consultation body for the countries that are directly related to the six-party talks, and also the holding of discussions on a peace regime for the Korean peninsula involving the parties concerned. Discussion about a peace regime should not simply accompany progress in the six-party talks; it needs to be approached with the view that it will power the work to resolve the nuclear issue. Regarding the North Korean nuclear issue, there is validity to president Roh's example of U.S. president Abraham Lincoln, who simultaneously took both slave emancipation and national unity into consideration. As seen from the invasion of Iraq both nations need to be cautious about an indiscriminate approach to human rights, since that can lead to even greater human rights infringements. The part of the declaration that states that there should be harmony between the development of intra-Korean relations and resolving the North Korean nuclear issue is of course correct in principle. But one worries about the possibility that will be used as an excuse to block progress in relations.
The U.S.-Korea alliance needs to change to a future-oriented one, but the central position it occupies in Korean foreign relations must not be shaken. Only mutual respect, trust, and patient effort on the part of both sides will guarantee the future.
The Hankyoreh, 18 November 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection]
[Editorial] The Beginning of a Future-Oriented U.S.- Korea Alliance |
