I am an editorial writer at The Korea Times, focusing on foreign policy, North Korea and domestic politics. My key areas of interest include North Korea, foreign interference in elections, election integrity, cyberattacks and human rights. Prior to joining the Editorial Board, I served as both Politics Desk editor and Culture Desk editor. During my career, I have reported on the Presidential Office under the Lee Myung-bak administration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Assembly.
Carter’s idealism meets grim reality
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter headed to America empty-handed after wrapping up a 48-hour trip to North Korea and a one-day stopover in Seoul, Friday.
His intent to bring a diplomatic breakthrough in the resumption of the stalled nuclear talks through a private humanitarian mission was futile.
Government officials and analysts echoed that the former U.S. president was too idealistic to have hoped that he could successfully maneuver North Korea which is highly calculative.
Michael Green, Japan Chair of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, indicated that Carter’s visit was driven by idealism.
“In the United States, it is not even a story worth telling,” he said in an interview with several Korean reporters in Seoul Thursday. “Most American experts have come to know by now that Carter has his own mission and his own analysis. They don’t have high expectations. It is a personal effort.”
A government official said on condition of anonymity that he shared the view that Carter was idealistic as he had little chance to have deeper understanding of the complex nature of the North Korean nuclear program.
This is the second time for Carter, once called a diplomatic troubleshooter for his role in the first North Korean nuclear crisis in 1994, to finish his trip to the “Hermit Kingdom” without at least some sort of outcome that could justify his trip.
Of the three visits to the North in total, this trip appears to be the least productive.
The former U.S. President went to the North alone last year. Carter wasn’t given an opportunity to meet face-to-face with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il at the time as Kim took a sudden trip to China.
Despite this, his visit last year was relatively fruitful because he was able to bring an American citizen held there back to the United States. It was considered half a success, given the humanitarian mission was at least accomplished.
This week Carter headed to the North with three ex-heads of state. They were former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, former Irish President Mary Robinson and former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland.
Before leaving Beijing, the former U.S. President expressed his hope to sit down with North Korean leader Kim and his youngest son and heir-apparent Kim Jong-un. But the North Korean leader was unavailable for a meeting with the visiting delegation.
Guesswork about Kim Jong-il’s decision not to see the Carter group is in full swing. Some analysts say the highly calculative North Korean leader didn’t have high expectations on the role of the former U.S.
President, leading him to believe that there was no point in meeting Carter.
They say the unmistakable characterization of Seoul and Washington over The Elders’ trip as a private visit played a role in shaping Kim’s perception.
Both South Korea and the U.S. governments reiterated that Carter was neither representing Seoul nor Washington.
In a press briefing Tuesday, Kim Sung-hwan, minister of foreign affairs and trade, called the Carter group “a third party.” North Korea had no good reason to talk to the South through the third party as several dialogue channels between two Koreas are already open, the top diplomat said.