Tong Kim

Tong Kim is former senior interpreter at the U.S. State Department and now a research professor with Ilmin Institute of International Relations at Korea University and a visiting scholar at Johns Hopkins University SAIS ― ED.

By Tong Kim

Independent candidate Lee Hoi-chang, chasing hard after the Grand National Party (GNP)'s frontrunner, Lee Myung-bak, is regarded as an authentic conservative if not a hardliner on foreign policy issues.

A former prime minister, Lee is running on a tough North Korean policy in his third bid for the presidency.

If elected, Lee would terminate the Sunshine Policy that was launched by former President Kim Dae-jung and inherited by President Roh Moo-hyun's engagement policy.

He served as prime minister under the Kim Young-sam government whose policy was also harsh on the North. To Lee, the Sunshine Policy of the past 10 years is a miserable failure. He charges that it failed because neither Kim nor Roh had a "realistic vision" or philosophy for inter-Korean relations."

"The first objective for North Korea policy should be dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear weapons," he says. Then he would press for reform and opening of the closed regime of the ``head leader" in the North.

A Lee Hoi-chang government would strive to change the North Korean system. He believes handing out aid to North Korea in the name of the Sunshine Policy has failed to effectuate change in the North.

He would be ready for threats of nuclear war from the North Koreans when he cuts off economic aid. He argues that a genuine peaceful coexistence is possible to achieve only through a thorny path, "not through the future of a rainbow."

In a recent discussion at the Kwanhun Press Club, the hardliner candidate reemphasized: "To become a genuine partner for peaceful coexistence, North Korea must change into a free, open society that respects human rights."

He says demanding North Korea's abandonment of nuclear weapons should not be regarded as a hardliner approach.

On the northern limit line (NLL), he would undo any concessions that Roh government might make. To him, the NLL is an extension of the territorial border.

After North Korea exploded a nuclear device last October, the former Supreme Court judge called for an immediate suspension of "all forms of aid and cooperation" with the North.

He said, "The South Korean government and political parties should unite to strongly urge the North to give up its nuclear weapons.

He said, "The Mount Geumgang tourism and the Gaeseong Industrial Complex must be halted despite unfortunate losses to be incurred by the businesses with stakes in inter-Korean cooperation.

In his view, cash the North Koreans get from the businesses in the industrial complex only helps them develop nuclear weapons.

He believes the South should send a strong message to the North Korean regime to stop developing and proliferating weapons of mass destruction that threaten the security of the region.

He supports South Korea's active participation the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) and in "international sanctions led by the United Nations and the United States."

His emphasis is placed on "watertight cooperation" with the United States in the course of dealing with the North Korean nuclear issue. His government would take "decisive action to press" the North to give up its nuclear programs.

He believes that the South should take tough measures to prevent North Korea from being recognized as a nuclear state, which would trigger "the catastrophic consequences" of nuclear proliferation in Northeast Asia. He favors the nuclear umbrella of the United States as a deterrent to the North Korean nuclear threat.

On the evolving issue of the ROK-U.S. alliance, the independent candidate opposes the scheduled transfer of wartime operational control that would dissolve the Combined Forces Command.

He accused Roh Moo-hyun of being "obsessed with the nonsensical idea of autonomous national defense." The conservative candidate insists upon restoring and strengthening the security alliance with the United States.

He warns of perilous turbulence on the Korean Peninsula that might occur in the event the North Korean regime suddenly collapsing, a conflict from the clash of interests among the powerful neighbors in the region.

In his theory, Korea might even become a battleground among the competing giants as it was historically. In Lee's view, this is all the more reason why South Korea must keep the United States as its strong ally.

At the same time, a Lee government would "sharpen its diplomatic and negotiating skills to empower the nation to develop and maintain close ties and build trust with China, Russia and Japan as well."

His government would convince the neighbor powers of the rationale and the logic of Korean unification. The best way to unification is to secure North Korea's stability and to develop its economy.

Resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue would "mitigate tension on the peninsula and ensure stability in the Northeast Asian region" and it would lead to an opportunity for the North to join the international community and revive its moribund economy.

For this to happen, a Lee government would initiate a fundamental change in North Korean policy and reinforce the bedrock of the U.S.-ROK alliance.

Lee argues the turning point for the diverging perceptions of North Korea between South Korea and the United States was the first inter-Korean summit of June 15, 2000, "when former President Kim Dae-jung declared "the threat of war had disappeared from the Korean Peninsula."

According to Lee, "Consequently, the U.S. forces in Korea and the ROK-U.S. alliance that had been serving as a deterrent to North Korean threat of war experienced the undermining of the reason for its existence.

Lee charges anti-American sentiments in the South, largely stemming from the death of two school girls run over by an American military vehicle and the massacre of civilians by U.S. troops during the Korean War, were inflamed by the pro-Korean attitudes of the Roh government.

His arguments for a transfer of power in South Korea are among other things the alleged necessity for taking the government back from the incompetent and arrogant pro-North Korean leftists and putting the government on the basis of principles.

The independent candidate seems to be competing more with the conservative GNP's candidate, who also takes a much more stricter stance on North Korea than the liberal pro-government candidate, Chung Dong-young.

On foreign policy, Lee Hoi-chang's is certainly furthest on the right among the three major candidates. However, his tough approach would probably have to soften if he was put into power, given the optimistic prospects of denuclearization.

The reality of nuclear negotiation is that both the Bush administration and North Korea at this point at least after many twists and turns are now going through the process of a negotiated settlement.

Lee is seen as an old-fashioned conservative whom his opponents view as out of touch with the reality of inter-Korean relations. Who is right will be determined by the voters on Dec. 19.

Foreign policy is an important campaign issue but it is not a critical determining factor in this race. This is how democracy works.