Korea, US try to control damage
Members of conservative civic groups hold a protest rally near the office of the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation (KCRC) in central Seoul, Thursday, after U.S. Ambassador to Korea Mark Lippert was injured in an attack during an event organized by the KCRC. / Yonhap
By Yi Whan-woo
Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and U.S. Ambassador to Korea Mark Lippert have confirmed that the bilateral alliance between Seoul and Washington will remain strong despite the assault on Lippert, Thursday, according to the government.
“The Korea-U.S alliance is too strong to be affected by this incident alone,” Yun, who had a phone conversation with Lippert, was quoted as saying by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
It also said he thanked the Korean people for their support in the wake of the knife-wielding attack by anti-U.S. activist, Kim Ki-jong, 55.
The government said earlier four senior officials from the two sides met in the U.S. and agreed to work closely to prevent the assault hurting the bilateral alliance.
Despite the move, some experts have expressed concern that the incident will likely have an adverse impact upon relations.
The four officials were Korean Ambassador to the U.S. Ahn Ho-young, Korean Consul General to the U.S. Cho Hyun-dong, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel and Sung Kim, Washington’s former top envoy to Seoul who now serves as the special representative for North Korea policy and deputy assistant secretary of state for Korea and Japan.
“Ahn and Cho expressed regret over the incident,” the foreign ministry said.
“They and their U.S. counterparts concurred on the need to work closely to prevent the case from developing into a diplomatic problem and negatively affecting the Korea-U.S. alliance.”
In particular, the government said such cooperation will be crucial following the controversial remarks by Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman on Feb. 27.
In a seminar in Washington Sherman said the disagreement among Korea, China and Japan over Tokyo’s enslavement of women and the content of history books can be “frustrating.”
She also said “It’s not hard for a political leader anywhere to earn cheap applause by vilifying a former enemy,” claiming such provocations produce paralysis.
Concerns were raised that Washington may have taken sides with Tokyo in Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s efforts to whitewash the colonial misdeeds of his country.
Experts said the assault on Lippert will not hurt the Korea-U.S. relationship.
However, they said the incident may hinder Seoul’s efforts to convince Washington to take its side over Japan’s wartime atrocities.
They speculated that the government and civilian groups may find it difficult for the time being to raise issues with the U.S. over historical disputes between Seoul and Tokyo.
“The assault will not lead to frayed ties between Korea and the U.S.” said Kim Hyun-wook, a professor at Korea National Diplomatic Academy, an institute under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“But it’s likely that Korea will need to put aside historical disputes with Japan for the time being and instead soothe the U.S.
“Such a situation will frustrate the government’s effort to share its views with the U.S. over Tokyo’s wartime atrocities.”
He also speculated that civic groups’ protests in front of the U.S. Embassy in Seoul over Sherman’s comments will subside.
Kim Yeoul-soo, an international politics professor at Sungshin Women’s University, agreed.
“I believe it was Lippert who played a key role for the U.S. government to promptly respond to Korea’s criticism toward Sherman’s remarks.”
On March 2, the U.S. Department of State said Tokyo’s wartime sexual enslavement of women was a “terrible, egregious violation of human rights.”
It also said Washington’s position on historical tension in Northeast Asia remains unchanged and that it should be dealt with in a way that “promotes healing and reconciliation.”
“It’s pretty embarrassing that Lippert was attacked,” Kim said.