Politics of US envoy's moustache

By Yi Whan-woo

For Harry Harris, sporting a moustache was an expression of a new start as U.S. ambassador to Korea following a 40-year military career.

“I wanted to make a break between my life as a military officer and my new life as a diplomat,” he told The Korea Times last week, repeating what he said on the day he arrived in the South in July 2018. “I tried to get taller but I couldn’t grow any taller, and so I tried to get younger but I couldn’t get younger. But I could grow a moustache so I did that.”

But the Korean public does not perceive his new look as he intended.

The moustache rather has become associated with the latest U.S. image of being disrespectful and even coercive toward Korea, especially after Washington’s demand that Seoul pay $5 billion toward the upkeep of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK).

Critics find the negative U.S. image reminiscent of Japan’s brutal colonial rule, when all eight governors-general had moustaches.

In this context, Harris, often has been ridiculed for not being an ambassador but a governor general.

Harris made a fair argument about his appearance in relation to Japan, saying, “There are many Korean independence leaders that have moustaches, but no one seems to focus on that.”

The reason for this was that — in extreme cases — the critics were speaking from a racist context in reference to the ambassador’s Japanese background. He was born in Japan to a Japanese mother and a U.S. Navy officer.

Against this backdrop, Harris made it clear he would not deny his ethnic background.

“I am who I am. All I can say is that every decision I make is based on the fact that I’m American ambassador to Korea, not the Japanese American ambassador to Korea,” he said.

He noted that throughout his military and diplomatic career, his ethnic background has only come into play twice by the Chinese and Koreans.

When Harris was head of the U.S. Pacific Command, he was outspoken about China’s aggressive moves in the East and South China seas — and China’s state-run media routinely used his ethnic background against him.

Asked if he had considered shaving his moustache to bring about better interaction with Koreans, he said, “I’m not sure — you would have to convince me that somehow the moustache is viewed in a way that hurts our relationship.”