U.S. lawmakers are generally optimistic about the Korea-U.S. alliance… but they don’t really know anything about Korea [Yonhap News, English]. Here’s the full report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies. I found this part cute:
Despite a concerted effort to bring greater attention to this issue on Capitol Hill, including the creation of a “U.S.-Korea Visa Waiver Program Coalition,” many staff and members are still not well informed on the issue. Ironically, the South Korean government’s steadfast efforts to add the ROK to the VWP have, in the estimation of some staff, had a negative effect on U.S.-ROK relations. According to one Republican interlocutor: “I think when you meet a foreign country’s representative, and visa waiver is one of the top agenda items, there is a problem.”
Read the rest on your own.
11 Comments
LOL…there they go again, upsetting the kibun.
He’s got a valid point. Just like some poor guy at Encycopadia Brittanica, or the CIA who all of a sudden gets bombarded with emails and letters because it’s the EAST Sea. If it happened to you what would you think? The Korean Nationalists, politicians, and journalists, give Korea a bad name.
Korean Commies have been saying this all along. That the US is the one who stops the unification process between two Koreas. That is a lie. Germany united with the presence of US soldiers. KJI is the one who stops the unification process by not opening up the country.
Despite big flaw in their logic, Korean Commies are hell-bent to kick the US presence out of South Korea. By requesting the wartime command, by making it difficult for the US troops to stay and by not paying the fair share, these pro-North Commies have done much damage for last ten years.
It is about time for Korea to turn around. Toward pro-US stance.
By requiring visas of Koreans, the United States is adding to the long, painful tragedy of han* that constantly weighs on the Korean people and denies them the happines they so richly deserve. One way to rectify that pain is to make it easier for Koreans to visit Disneyland, Las Vegas and LA room salons.
Granted, that’s only the first step. As han* is an eternal affliction which the US is largely responsible for, the American people must make a consistent habit of capitulating to any and all Korean demands in order to apologize and create the correct conditions for jeong** to develop.
*A unique pain only comprehended by Koreans, as other nationalities haven’t suffered sufficiently to feel such pain so deeply.
**A concept too complex for simple Americans to understand, as only Koreans are capable of such strong and bonding emotion.
100% correct.
Politicians are just that, politicians. Don’t expect figureheads to know how to run the country or to shape foreign policies. They’ve got advisors for that.
Maybe Korea can hire Park Tongsun to tee things up. He’s got some pertinent experience and he gets out of his current berth in the Federal pen for his role in helping Kofi Annan’s son in the Oil for Food scam in 2012. In the meantime, maybe they can use the Nobel prize/Korean summit bagmen. Isn’t Park Jie-Won out of the slammer now?
i assume this was written prior to the hanwha mess but i got a kick out of the report singling out the chairman kim seung youn for inappropriately sponsoring politicians to come to korea. (p13)
Remember, Korea still doesn’t have professional political shmoozers yet. I understand lobbying is being discussed. Meanwhile they seem to lack a certain diplomatic deft touch.
Politics on an international scale is still in a natal phase here. When representatives occasionally make a point of order with a shoe upside the head there’s some work to be done yet.
Living in Washington, it seems as if the Koreans do a rather poor job of promoting themselves. One example is the KORUS House holds lectures to promote knowledge of Korea. Good idea, even better idea they have free food as part of the lecture. Bad idea, the KORUS house is in an out of the way location and they hold these talks during lunch. Either hold them later, or hold them at a place in downtown so people can actually go during their lunch breaks. Holding it at a location about a mile form the nearest metro will not encourage people to go during lunch.
It just seems as if everything Korea does to promote itself suffers from this lack of planning.
Here’s my favorite, the very last sentence being the proverbial punch line………..
Representative Hyde in particular was publicly critical of the ROK’s 2004 Ministry of National Defense White Paper, which omitted mention of the DPRK as the ROK’s “main enemy.” In a
March 10, 2005, House International Relations Committee hearing, he stated:[The] mixed signals on the security question, coming from Seoul, only
compound the challenge we face with North Korea. The Republic of Korea Ministry of National Defense White Paper for 2004 contained an apparent contradiction which causes some confusion. On the one hand, it deleted the
designation of Pyongyang as “the main enemy,” although Pyongyang’s continued hostility has been a major rationale for the U.S.-ROK alliance.
Second, the White Paper stated that, in the event of armed conflict in Korea,the U.S. would dispatch 690,000 troops—over four times the 150,000 U.S. forces now serving in Iraq. This seems to reflect great expectations at a time
when U.S. resources are already elsewhere committed. Congress would certainly have a major role in examining the implications of such a massive deployment. It also raises a very germane issue: if you need our help, please
tell us clearly who your enemy is.