According to the Joongang-Ilbo(Korean), Pres. Roh has canceled what may be his last summit with Pres. Bush before he steps down from office. The summit was originally scheduled for late September, but because of the scheduled summit with NK leader Kim Jong-Il, Pres. Roh has apparently decided to forgo the summit with Pres. Bush. Instead, there may be a short meeting between Pres. Bush and Roh, on the sidelines, during the APEC gathering in Sydney next month.
To Pres. Roh and the progressives, a summit with KJI has more publicity value than a summit with Pres. Bush, so apparently they have decided that they can go without an another meeting with Pres. Bush. Besides , you don’t want to be late for an audience with the Dear Leader, because you were meeting with Pres. Bush.
Or maybe the NKs deliberately pushed back the summit knowing that it will throw a wrench into the US-ROK summit plans.
Whatever the case, it’s not a good move by the S. Korean government.
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Dumb-da-dumb-dumb-dumb. Anything to try and whip up Corean pride and pander to fat boy up north.
“Whatever the case, it’s not a good move by the S. Korean government.”
The path generally taken.
Is anyone surprised that blood lines trumps common sense?”
Besides, isn’t it Kim, Jong-Il’s turn to come to S.Korea? Why won’t he come and be photographed on Yoido or in Kangnam to prove to his people how decrepit South Korea’s economy has become?
Not having a final summit between two lame ducks probably isn’t such a big deal. There’s may not be any real political benefit in it for either party. (If there were, I suspect it would still be going ahead.) It would certainly have been less expensive than a summit with the North is going to end up being. Anyway, I guess an awkward and forced photo op in Sydney will have to suffice.
Warren, it is supposed to be the fat man’s turn to come to South Korea. Then again, transparency and reciprocity were also supposed to be integral aspects of the Sunshine Policy, if I’m not mistaken…
True, but let’s look at this from an another perspective. The Pres. of the ROK deciding not to visit the Pres. of the country’s most important ally so that he can have a photo op with the leader of the country that is more interested in what cash that his southern neighbor can offer instead of pursuing a constructive relationship. And all this for what? A legacy?
The summit between the two Koreas can also be considered as an “awkward and forced photo op”
Politically speaking (and domestic at that), a ‘historical’ meeting with KJI would be more beneficial to Roh than another meeting w/ Pres. Bush. I mean, Bush isn’t exactly a popular figure over at Korea (or for that matter, pretty much anywhere outside of Crawford, TX), and to Roh, meeting KJI would be MUCH better for his party in the upcoming election.
Isn’t the situation meaningless in either case anyway? We have a pragmatically meaningless photo-op on one side (KJI), and meeting between two people who are, frankly, politically castrated within their own country. At least there’s some symbolic meaning in the former.
What would they talk about?
Bush: “I’m more popular than you!”
Noh: “Are not!”
Bush: “Am too!”
Noh: “Are not”
yadda yadda yadda
I don’t know but it looks like Bush may want to have few words with Roh. According to the Chosun, it was Bush who invited Roh over to the White House.
Meaningless in either case, but at least Roh wouldn’t have needed to bring a basket of goodies, a blank check, and a host of concessions to his host in Washington.
Who cares?