What could Park have done better at US speech?

By Park Jin-ho

President Park Geun-hye’s speech to the joint meeting of U.S. Congress should have been focused on balancing what she would like to say and what the U.S. Congress leadership is interested in. In general terms, her speech was quite successful, timely and meaningful. However, Park could have done a better job if she had inspired the members of the Congress. It is usual, but the attendance of members of the House and the Senate does not seem to have been that high. Although there was no assigned seating or official attendance check, approximately 10-15 percent of the members attended the address by President Lee Myung-bak in 2011. Thus, it is hard to expect that Park’s speech would attract an exceptional number of members. In addition, major U.S. newspapers in Washington did not cover her speech on their front pages on the morning of her speech.

What could the president’s advisers have considered to better inspire Americans and members of the U.S. Congress?

First, Park’s speech should have included something to express her respect for a bipartisan leadership amid different leaderships in the House and the Senate. In this regard, it is appropriate to express her sincere admiration for the U.S. Congress leadership beyond just saying “thank-you.” By doing so, the American people would become more proud of their political leadership. This approach would also be a good attempt to draw and strengthen bipartisan political support for the future of the ROK-U.S. alliance.

Second, as the alliance between the two nations becomes deeper and broader, a close relationship and communication with the U.S. Congress is of significant importance to increasing the ROK-U.S. mutual benefits. For example, the Korean government experienced a painful time while negotiating the import of U.S. beef because Senator Max Baucus strongly politicized his district issues, such as the interests of the beef industry. The Korean media are usually very much attentive to even a word by members of the U.S. Congress about critical bilateral issues between the two nations. Thus, given a chance to speak at the Congress, unlike a summit meeting with President Barack Obama, Park could have done better by pointing out the importance of cooperation with the U.S. Congress, beyond introducing her grand vision.

Third, concerning the revision of the nuclear energy cooperation agreement, it is critical to exchange and share political and strategic responsibilities with the United States. In her speech, Park repeated an economic benefit that American political leaders are not as interested in as Korea is. Yes, there is a strong lobbying influence by U.S. energy industries against the nonproliferation “Gold Standard” for nuclear energy cooperation. The priority of the Korean government, however, should be to persuade the U.S. government and the Congress. Further, the Park administration should have been clear about what Korea can do to enhance its international role and responsibility with the U.S. for nonproliferation. Korea’s attempt to use this option as leverage would not be a strategic decision while negotiating with its ally.

Last, her statements about the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (FTA) were unlikely to be persuasive to members of the U.S. Congress as the U.S. experiences an increasing deficit from its trade with Korea. At the joint press conference, Obama clearly expressed his lingering concern about the FTA by stating, “We have a long way to go.” As Korea joins an ASEAN-based Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RECP) rather than the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Park was able to sell Korea’s strategic vision for creating a regional platform for Asia-Pacific countries as she stressed at the speech that moving toward Northeast Asian peace and cooperation could reinforce the U.S. rebalancing to Asia. In fact, the TPP is a centerpiece of Obama’s economic rebalancing to Asia.

As Park plans to have a summit meeting with her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping soon, she should be reminded that her discussion with Xi will be of strategic interest to the U.S. government and the Congress as well.

The writer is a legislative assistant to Rep. Hwang Jin-ha of the ruling Saenuri Party and a non-resident fellow of the Korea Defense & Security Forum (KODEF) in Seoul.