Pro-Pyongyang and gay

By David Tizzard

It's been an interesting couple of days for ambassadors based here in Seoul, South Korea.

And while one may think of diplomacy as some secret and revered art, carried out in dusty corridors by bespectacled aristocrats over glasses of red wine, that seriously neglects the power of one of the modern world's most powerful ― and dangerous ― tools.

Twitter.

Yep ― the dreaded "T" word. The place where bots, Russians, blue ticked-warriors, stans, armys, and social justice journalists go to play. So put on your lifejackets because we're going in.

And, let's start with the bad and end with the good so that at least if you do read this, you'll be nodding rather than tutting when you reach for your next click.

First was the story of the group of "Pro-Pyongyang" students that broke into the American Ambassador's private residence, Habib House, and staged a protest.

There was nothing too clandestine about their actions. In fact, it seems publicity was one of the very things they sought.

They placed a ladder up against the walls, climbed into the grounds, and then found their way inside so as to start their protest.

Perhaps they might have instead considered joining the RASKB because I was at the American Ambassador's residence this summer and certainly didn't need a ladder, just sunglasses.

Nevertheless, once inside, they photographed themselves holding up a banner in protest against the increasing financial responsibility vis-a-vis military spending and defence being placed on the ROK by the current American administration.

They also demanded Ambassador Harris, a charming and charismatic gentlemen, leave the country. And this just a few days ahead of the planned meeting between US and Korean officials in Honolulu to discuss military costs.

For all the talk of peace and engagement with the North, it must be said that neither Preisdent Moon nor President Trump has cut down on military spending: Fighter jets, troops, spy satellites, and aircraft carriers all form part of the entire package.

South Korea's military expenditure in 2018 under President Moon was $43.1 billion. That's a 7% increase from 2017, making it one of the largest in the world.

Chairman Kim has also taken some time off of riding his white horse around the sacred Paektu Mountain, from whence the lord and saviours of the North Korean people (coincidentally Kim's father and grandfather) are said to have originated, and fired plenty of missiles of late.

Journalists on Twitter complain about the lack of sleep they receive because of the frequent and predictably unpredictable nature of these shots across the water towards erstwhile enemy Japan.

Personally it's the horse that I feel most for, however.

And that animal sympathy continued with Harris' response to the break-in at his house ― the second time in just over a year.

Rather than address the nature of the protest, he took to Twitter in both English and Korean to thank the local police force for their efforts and confirm that his cats were indeed okay.

A brave face and rightly so. But let us not forget that only 4 years ago his predecessor, Ambassador Lippert, was attacked by Kim Ki-jong wielding a knife, demanding an end to military actions on the Peninsula.

Violence to end war is a strange motive. But we are left wondering whether the 19 students who broke in to the residence and were subsequently taken away by police were "Pro-Pyongyang", "Anti-American", against war in general, or perhaps a mixture of all three.

While the answers are not immediately clear, the alliteration certainly made for easier headlines and left me wondering what one would call an anti-British, Korean, or Japanese movement if the same literary technique were to be consistently applied…

The story of Harris, his house, and his cats got a lot of press attention. But the nice one, the good news with which I promised to end, did not. In fact, it was only on Twitter that I became aware of it.

The reason Ambassador Harris was not at home was because he was attending an event at Cheong Wa Dae to which President Moon Jae-in had invited the heads of diplomatic foreign missions to Seoul.

Calling attention to the upcoming ASEAN meeting in Busan and referencing the success of the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, President Moon asked those working in diplomacy here to support the inter-Korean peace process he has strived so hard to achieve.

If there is one thing that diplomacy is good at, it's replacing war-war with jaw-jaw. So perhaps he has asked the right people.

But the pleasing news came from New Zealand Ambassador Philip Turner.

Ambassador Turner was appointed to his position here in March 2018, just after the aforementioned peace Olympics had finished. He also serves concurrently as his country's Ambassador to the DPRK.

New Zealand legally recognized the government in North Korea in March 2001 following Britain's lead, who established diplomatic relations with Pyongyang on December 12, 2000,

While Colin Crooks, British Ambassador to the DPRK, frequently takes to Twitter to share news about life in Pyongyang and beyond, Ambassador Turner is based here south of the 38.

He too, however, went online to remark just how pleased he was to be able to meet President Moon and the First Lady Kim Jung-sook on Friday and, moreover, do so with his husband Hiroshi Ikeda.

Both Ambassador Turner and Mr. Ikeda have been champions of diversity and a more committed approach to human rights for all members of society, regardless of political, ethic, religious, or sexual orientation. And for that they should be lauded.

I have written before in my columns about the current South Korean administration's official silence on LGBT issues ― particularly when various international embassies have attended and supported the country's pride events. I've also had a few words to say on both nationalism and current Korea-Japan relations.

And so, it was with a great smile that I gazed upon Ambassador Turner's tweet and comments.
It made me realise a few things:

I'm often wrong.

I like diplomacy.

And we should not always be too easily swayed by media narratives and headlines….even if they do use alliteration.

David Tizzard (datizzard@swu.ac.kr) is an assistant professor at Seoul Women's University. He also presents economic and cultural issues on Business Now on TBS eFM (101.3FM) live every Wednesday evening from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.