By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter
President Lee Myung-bak faces rising calls to overhaul his diplomatic and defense policies amid criticism that his government did not handle well the death by shooting of a South Korean tourist in North Korea and Japan's provocation over the South Korean islets of Dokdo.
North Korea and Japan are expected to provide further diplomatic challenges to Lee down the road as international efforts to verify the North's nuclear weapons program pick up speed.
Observers say the dispute between Pyongyang and Tokyo over the abductions of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s, which has hampered the six-party nuclear talks, may put Seoul in an awkward position.
``Seoul believes its alliance with Tokyo is crucial to denuclearize North Korea,'' said Shin Ju-baik, a professor at Kookmin University in Seoul. ``But Seoul will find it difficult to cooperate with Tokyo in resolving the abduction issue if it keeps annoying Seoul regarding Dokdo and other thorny historical matters. At the same time, Seoul also should tackle military threats from Pyongyang.''
Shin said Japan's claim to Dokdo will hinder policy coordination between Seoul and Tokyo in dealing with Pyongyang's nuclear program. The killing of a female tourist by a North Korean soldier is also testing President Lee's efforts to get inter-Korean relations back on track, the professor said.
Lee's pragmatic diplomacy is now in deep trouble.
Critics say the provocations by Japan and North Korea are evidence of his policy failure.
North Korea cut inter-Korean dialogue after Lee pledged to get the North to abandon its atomic program based on a stronger Seoul-Washington alliance.
Japan's claim to Dokdo came days after Lee stressed a ``future-oriented'' relationship between Seoul and Tokyo during his summit with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on July 9.
``Seoul is in dilemma. Seoul's uneasy relations with Japan and North Korea means that Northeast Asia will face fresh geopolitical challenges to maintain peace,'' Professor Shin said.
There are also growing doubts over whether Lee's foreign policy team is capable enough in dealing with the challenges. Many observers say they were disappointed at the way the Lee government reacted to the shooting at Mt. Geumgang and Japan's claim to Dokdo.
It is not only opposition parties, but also the governing Grand National Party (GNP) that are putting pressure on Lee.
``The recent cases show the government's crisis management system is not working properly,'' GNP lawmaker Won Yoo-chul said during a National Assembly session on July 21. ``Nothing was perfect in initial reactions to the incidents. The government should check every aspect of its crisis management system for a complete overhaul.''
Lee allegedly received a belated report about the shooting at the Mt. Geumgang tourism complex on July 11 on his way to the National Assembly to give a speech on inter-Korean relations.
The shooting took place early in the morning, but Hyundai Asan, the tour operator, failed to report it to the government immediately. The Joint Chief of Staff initially reported the tourist, Park Wang-ja, died of disease, not having been shot dead by a North Korean soldier.
Media reports suggest Lee was asked by presidential secretaries to change the content of his speech, but Lee ignored the idea.
During the speech at the Assembly, Lee called on North Korea to reopen reconciliatory talks between South and North Korea. Two days later, the North rejected Lee's proposal for the resumption of inter-Korean dialogue.
In the wake of the incident, the government suspended tours to Mt. Geumgang, and asked for North Korea's full cooperation for an investigation. The North has refused to allow the entry of South Korean investigators and rather demanded an apology from the South Korean authorities.
President Lee made it clear that his government will not lift its ban on tours to Mt. Geumgang unless the communist regime allows a joint investigation into the killing at the North Korean resort.
Lee urged North Korea to ensure safety of South Korean tourists and take appropriate measures to prevent the recurrence of such a tragedy. The government will consider suspending civilian tours to Gaeseong if the North fails to meet the demands, he said. The inter-Korean cooperation programs, initiated and expanded by Lee's predecessors, Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun, are a major source of hard currency for the poverty-stricken country.
Seoul's inconsistency in dealing with Japan and North Korea is also a source of concern.
On July 17, South Korea rejected a proposal by Japan that the foreign ministers of the two countries have bilateral talks on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum in Singapore.
``Seoul has no plan to hold a meeting of foreign ministers with Tokyo,'' Moon Tae-young, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, told reporters Thursday. ``It is not necessary to hold such a meeting at a time when relations are worsening over Japan's claim to the South Korean islets of Dokdo.''
Chung Mong-joon, a Supreme Council member of the governing GNP, also called on the government on the same day to annul its decade-old fisheries pact with Japan to protest its claim over Dokdo.
The next day, President Lee said his government would avoid emotional reactions to Japan's provocation and that Korea should adopt a long-term and strategic approach to protect its sovereignty over Dokdo.
``We should set up policies on Dokdo from a long-term and strategic perspective. It is difficult to solve the problem only with short-term measures and emotional responses,'' Lee said. ``We need to react to Japan's move to hurt our sovereignty in a cool-headed manner.''
Regarding North Korea, Lee said after his Camp David summit with U.S. President George W. Bush that his administration will link economic aid to the North to the nuclear issue. The North, apparently angered by such a policy, has refused to accept food aid from the South, and shows no willingness to resume the suspended inter-Korean dialogue, either.
The Lee government also cut state subsidies to non-governmental organizations carrying out inter-Korean humanitarian and cooperation programs, reflecting concerns about transparency in the use of funds for cross-border exchanges.
Lee proposed the inter-Korean summit and pledged to revitalize civilian exchanges later, but the North has not answered to the calls.
``Maintaining civilian exchanges is very important as it is not easy to begin government-level talks under the current situation,'' said Cho Sung-yul, a professor at the Institute for National Security Strategy. ``Seoul should continue to show its willingness toward normalizing inter-Korean relations by giving humanitarian aid through international agencies.''