Hey, She’s OUR Ambassador!

You know, there were times I questioned some of the things former US ambassador Sandy Vershbow did, but I don’t even know where to begin with this column by KT assistant managing editor Oh Young-jin:

Name one favor U.S. President Bush has done for Korea.

Besides putting up with five years of Roh Moo-hyun?

It is not hard to make up a shortlist since it is really short. After all, the outgoing American head of state has contributed to a general aggravation of his country’s standing not only in the Muslim world but also among its traditional allies such as Korea.

That’s rich coming after five years of Roh “Diplomatic War” Moo-hyun, Chung “Hidden Hand” Dong-young and Song “US Most Warlike Nation” Min-soon. While we’re making lists, let me ask this — between 2002 and 2007, was there a single country with whom Seoul actually improved its relations? Besides North Korea?

But his appointment ― albeit it was more likely at the behest of Secretary of State Condalezza Rice ― of Ambassador Kathleen Stephens will in all likelihood have a lasting impact on the two nations’ relationship for the better.

Of course, the proud daughter of Texas has yet to prove herself under fire but, as things stand now, many Koreans would share my regret that she did not come sooner. The point is made plain, considering the all-male lineage of her predecessors. For instance, Alexander Vershbow, whom she succeeded, was known to hold a great amount of disdain for Korea and was quite open about it.

I admit it must have been tough, as a US government official, not to be extremely frustrated with elements within Korea during Vershbow’s tenure, but when, pray tell, did the former ambassador openly express “disdain for Korea?” And this disdain was known by whom? The Democratic Party? The Hankyoreh?

Besides, his drum work, hyped by the Korean media and revered by the larger audience who didn’t have a chance to listen, was mediocre even by an amateur’s standards, according to one “eyewitness.” With Ambassador Stephens in place, the “April beef crisis” could have been handled differently. The crisis is to be looked back upon as the single most important watershed that has generalized anti-American sentiment among Koreans.

Gwangju, Hyo-sun and Mi-son, US beef… so many watersheds of anti-Americanism, so little time. But wait, I thought the beef protests Weren’t About Anti-Americanism ™? Well, no matter — Oh’s right. With her Korean skills, it’s doubtful Ambassador Stephens’ comments would have been mistranslated by Korean politicians. Still, even in Korean, I wonder how she’d have avoided making the grave diplomatic insult of stating the US position on the dispute.

Amb. Stephens is deftly handling her part of helping turn that ill will into a good one.

First, her Korean language skills are instrumental. The Peace Corps program has its share of duds among its participants, but finds success with Stephens. One of the first things she did when she returned to Korea was visit a middle school where she taught English. Watching her speak with her former colleagues during their reunion tugged the heartstrings of Koreans, some of whom may as well have felt as if her tour of duty was the return of a long-lost daughter. In the process, she became one of “us” and helped Koreans put behind them remnants of their inferiority complex with the Big Brother in the United States, at least for a while.

Look, I think it’s great that Ambassador Stephens has tons experience here and speaks Korean, and if she wants to spend time meeting with former colleagues and visiting her former school, so much the better. But it’s not her job to help you get over your psychological hangups with your “Big Brother.” That’s the job for you and your politicians. Weaning Korea off US defense subsidies would be a start.

A look at an extensive itinerary she is completing in addition her visit to the middle schools in Yesan and Buyeo reinforces where her true heart lies. Especially her recent visit to Kim Koo Museum was memorable since the museum is for Korea’s leading independence fighter during Japan’s colonial occupation. The independence fighter, often revered as a seminal person of Korea’s progressivism, was a strong candidate whose portrait was considered for use on new 100,000-won bills. The new bill plan was nixed, with speculation rife that the conservative Lee Myung-bak government disapproved of the use of Kim’s portrait.

Kim had a run-in with U.S. military authorities, who favored U.S.-educated Syngman Rhee and forced Kim to return to his liberated fatherland as an “ordinary” man, being deprived of his status as head of the provisional government. Stephens adroitly dodged the historical implications her visit might trigger, saying that her visit, together with a son she had with a Korean husband, was educational in purpose.

The ambassador may have “adroitly dodged the historical implications her visit might trigger,” but you sure didn’t. Let me ask — are you suggesting it would be a good thing for the US ambassador to inject herself into Korea’s historical navel-gazing? Hey, if Korean public figures want to debate the merits of putting Kim Koo’s face on banknotes or the legitimacy of the pre-Liberation provisional government, fine, but don’t look for answers in the US ambassador’s sightseeing schedule, and don’t look to the US embassy for input, unless you’re looking for clarification of US policy during the US military administration of 1945—1948.

To top it all, she has a combination of modesty and occasional self-deprecation that appeals to Koreans in particular. According to our Embassy Row reporter, she often puts down her command of Korean by reciting an old Korean saying that is used to show modesty when complimented. With a western touch of modernization, the saying would go, “A dog spending three years keeping the gate of Shakespeare’s house can recite from the Bard’s verses.”

All admirable qualities for a diplomat.

Few Koreans would have illusions about what her priorities are and where her loyalty lies. She showed she is an American patriot from bottom to top, quite literally, when she showed up for a U.S. election-day reception with her “patriotic shoes” on. The shoes have an American flag embroidered on their sides.

Questionable fashion choice, but then again, I wear a hanbok, so who am I to say?

Considering the amount of good will she has accumulated during a short period, she finds herself in a better position than others to serve the two allies’ interests.

Serve the two allies’ interests? Look, Ambassador Stephens is not Korea’s representative in the State Department, she is the US government’s representative in Korea. If you’re looking for someone to represent Korea’s interests, call Lee Tae-shik in Washington… assuming he’s not busy telling Korean-Americans to fast and repent.

She will have her chance to put that capital into good use. The administration of the incoming U.S. President Obama is set to pick up from where the second term of the Clinton administration left off in its policy on Korea, considering Obama’s choice of appointees in key positions. President Lee Myung-bak, who assumes the same color and shape of policy as the outgoing Republican President Bush, will be taxed to tune in with the Obama team, increasing the chances of friction. There are bound to be limits to how much one ambassador can do but I am sure that Stephens will be able to top the upper limit. Besides, she has already met half of Obama’s key foreign affairs goals ― undoing what his predecessor has done for eight years and putting on a friendly face to the world.

We’ll see about that. Not that I doubt Ambassador’s Stephens’ skills as a diplomat — quite the opposite, actually, as her familiarity with the country will allow her to accurately convey local conditions to policymakers in Washington — but Korean language skills and a self-depreciating manner won’t matter one iota if her boss decides to go after Korean car exports, pressures Korea to send troops to Afghanistan or sidelines Lee Myung-bak over North Korea.