Toxic words by Mayor Giuliani
By Chang Se-moon
In my latest article in this column, I wrote: “All parties should stop criticizing one another until they sit at the same negotiation table.”
When I wrote that sentence, I really did not expect anyone to make toxic statements since the date was so close to the scheduled summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
What a surprise to read the immature comments made by Rudy Giuliani, former New York mayor and now a member of Trump's legal team handling special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. The statement was reported in many major newspapers, including the June 7 issue of this newspaper.
Speaking in Tel Aviv, Israel, during a business conference, Giuliani is reported to have said that after Trump sent a letter to Kim Jong-un calling off the June 12 talks in Singapore, Kim “got back on his hands and knees and begged for it, which is exactly the position you want to put him in.”
Think about this, Mayor Giuliani. What if someone describes you as one constantly begging for a position, any position, near President Trump, and once he gets it, he is so publicity starved that he says anything to get media attention without thinking how his words may hurt other people.
Actually, Mayor Giuliani was a brilliant prosecutor in New York and a good mayor when he ran New York City. He also was a popular supporter of Trump when Trump was a candidate for the president of the United States. I am not sure why Giuliani made such an untimely statement. I can pose two hypotheses.
One is that he, like many other hard-core conservatives both in the U.S. and Korea, does not want any improvement in relations between North Korea and the rest of the democratic world. I am not quite sure whether this is what he had in mind, since President Trump himself has been pushing for the improvement in the relations between the two groups.
The other hypothesis is that Mayor Giuliani simply has become senile, making him to spit out whatever comes to mind without thinking over how his statements may impact the ongoing negotiations with North Korea.
Consider another sentence that I wrote in the same article of mine: “I have no doubt that in North Korea, likely in China as well, there are some who want to hold onto their power and influence and thus get rid of Kim to keep him from working on negotiations with South Korea and the United States.”
The statement again was corroborated in June 6 report in chosun.com and many other news media, stating that Kim of North Korea was very concerned about possible assassination during his trip to Singapore for the summit with President Trump.
I would like to say something to Mayor Giuliani and others who are either outright opposed to the progressing peace talks on the Korean Peninsula, or are demanding concessions from Kim, fully knowing that these conditions will be a deal breaker.
Over 70 million people in the two Koreas have endured continuing threats of war ever since the Korean War was suspended in 1953. For the first time, we have exceptional leadership toward solving the war clouds from President Moon Jae-in of South Korea and President Trump of the U.S.
Peace negotiations by bringing North Korea to the civilized world are in progress, but on a thin ice because of numerous obstacles and hazards. Demanding unacceptable concessions from Kim is one.
Some blind leaders in North Korea who are scared of losing their power and thus want to kill Kim are another. Chinese leaders who are concerned about American influence in the Far East and thus want Korea to remain permanently divided are another. I could go on and on.
Regardless of how firm the agreements among North Korea, South Korea, and the United States may be at this time in history, I see a prolonged and precarious process ahead of us to make all negotiations fruitful.
The least any sensible and civilized person can do is to support the negotiations in progress. We should stop making toxic statements especially leaders in South Korea and the United States. We should hope leaders in China and Russia will have a long-term view of peace in their neighbor that has been known as the “Land of the Morning Calm” but has never been one.
For me, I am just thankful to President Moon and President Trump for their hard work for peace in Korea and hopeful that finally the sacrifice that was made by 1.2 million South Koreans, 1.1 million North Koreans, 600,000 Chinese, 36,568 Americans and 3,063 other U.N. lives during the 1950-53 Korean War, bears fruit.
Chang Se-moon (changsemoon@yahoo.com) is the director of the Gulf Coast Center for Impact Studies.