Expectations are growing over the possibility that the next U.S. government will take more conciliatory gestures toward North Korea to ensure complete denuclearization of the recalcitrant communist state. We want to remind that President-elect Barack Obama often said he would meet North Korean leaders to solve the nuclear issue. He has been a harsh critic of President George W. Bush who took a hard-line stance against Pyongyang for the first four years of his presidency.
Obama has denounced Bush for angering North Korea and complicating the denuclearization negotiations by branding the world's last Stalinist county part of the ``axis of evil." Although he moderated his position later, President Bush has not succeeded in attaining his policy goal of making the North give up its nuclear ambition. Thus, he will have to hand over the issue to his successor who is to be installed as the 44th President of the U.S. in January.
Obama is likely to focus on dialog and negotiation in a more amicable way to peacefully resolve the nuclear standoff with Pyongyang. In fact, the North Korean regime has dragged its feet on its nuclear disarmament process under the framework of the six-nation talks. The North's move is apparently aimed at having new negotiations with the next U.S. administration so that it can get more concessions from America. The North Korean ruling elite might believe that Obama is easier to please than Bush was, at least where the nuclear talks are concerned.
Therefore, the North's denuclearization process is at a critical juncture amid a power transition from conservative Republican to liberal Democrat. South Koreans have high hopes that Obama will make a breakthrough in the North's nuclear disarmament and mend ties with it in order to promote peace and reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula. And at the same time, they cannot but harbor some worries about Pyongyang's outmoded strategy of having direct talks with Washington while sidelining Seoul.
On Tuesday, President Lee Myung-bak said in an interview with South Korea's Chosun Ilbo, Japan's Mainichi Shimbun and The Times of Britain that he is not opposed to Obama holding a summit with North Korea leader Kim Jong-il. His remarks came despite some concerns that an Obama-Kim meeting would isolate South Korea. Brushing aside such concerns, Lee said he is certain that the summit would help lead to the North's abandonment of its nuclear programs. Lee believes that Obama will highly value the view of Seoul on the inter-Korean issue, stressing that the two allies will have sufficient consultations over the North.
Lee also renewed his position that he is willing to meet with Kim Jong-il as often as possible, adding that Kim will someday understand his sincerity over national reconciliation and inter-Korean cooperation. What's important is that the conservative president mends strained ties with the North by taking advantage of the election of Obama. For this, Seoul and Washington must solidify their bilateral alliance and step up collaboration in addressing not only the global financial crisis but also the North Korean nuclear issue.