The Marmot’s Hole

Seoul Mayor Lee Myung-bak, who’s currently visiting the United States, was invited to share breakfast with U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who is reportedly notorious for turning down audience requests by high-ranking figures like the Korean foreign minister. Naturally enough, some Koreans are wondering why Rummy would not only grant an audience to Lee, who stands a good chance of becoming Korea’s next president, but actually extend an invitation before the mayor even asked for one.
The meeting is all the more surprising in that with the Yongsan negotiations completed, there would seem to be few outstanding issues between Seoul City and the U.S. military. Despite this, Seoul said Rummy sent a breakfast invitation to Lee just prior to his departure to the United States. The invitation was made to one of Lee’s advisers through Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard Lawless, one of Rummy’s close aides.
Analysts say the invitation was made with Lee’s status as a likely presidential contender in mind.
Rummy has turned down audience requests by Korean foreign ministers, but he did meet with then-Unification Minister Chung Dong-young during a Washington visit. Chung, like Lee, is considered a possible presidential candidate.
Meeting with Korean reporters in Washington, Lee said he couldn’t predict what he’d discuss with Rummy. Rather, he said, he was going to be doing a lot of listening.
Lee was careful not to impute too much political significance on the meeting, saying it was simply a courtesy extended him as Seoul mayor.
The mayor would meet with U.S. trade representatives Robert B. Zoellick and Rob Portman to discuss the visa waiver and FTA issues, but he canceled meeting with politicians like Senator Richard Lugar, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, in order avoid making the trip appear like his international debut as a presidential candidate.