Kirk Has 2nd Thoughts on Sunshine Policy
By JR Breen
Contributing Writer
The policy of engagement with North Korea pursued by the Kim Dae-jung administration was a ``betrayal'' of South Korea's national interest, according to a veteran foreign journalist.
Donald Kirk, the longest serving foreign correspondent in Seoul, believes that the dissident who became president in 1998 and overturned decades of anti-communist ``containment'' of the North, led the South Korean people astray with his so-called ``sunshine'' policy of engagement with the regime of Kim Jong-il.
``The betrayal was that Koreans were sold this program as the solution to North Korea (when it was not),'' said Kirk, speaking at a meeting of the Royal Asiatic Society Monday about his new book, ``Korea Betrayed: Kim Dae-jung and Sunshine.''
Kirk said he had initially supported the idea of engaging the communist state but that he was disappointed in the implementation. ``My opinion of DJ changed when I began to learn about the machinations that went into the 2000 summit,'' he said, referring to the first ever meeting between the top leaders of the two rival states.
The turning point, he said, was the large sum of money, US$500 million dollars, sent under-the-table to North Korea to buy the summit.
``It makes sense that this would happen in a country where so much relies on payoffs that not many people know about.''
Of all the figures who worked for Korean democracy, Kim Dae-jung is the most famous and most admired overseas. Kirk explained that his latest work was an attempt to present an objective analysis, centering on the late president's approach to North Korea.
``I wanted to do what I think is a more balanced view of Kim Dae-jung,'' said Kirk.
Kirk interviewed Kim several times since first meeting him in the early 70s.
In those days, he said, ``If you asked a taxi driver to take you to Kim Dae-jung they would take you right to his house in Mapo, so that was no problem,'' said Kirk. This level of access, of course, changed when he entered the Blue House.
``When I finally got an interview with him it lasted for 45 minutes,'' he said. ``Then at the end I was told all of that was off the record.''
Kirk, a journalist in Korea since 1972, has written for several newspapers, including The Chicago Tribune, The International Herald Tribune and The New York Times, and is a noted author. This is his fourth book. He currently writes for The Christian Science Monitor.