[Editorial] Don’t Gamble With Our Future

A high level official said that “we cannot let the U.S. decide our future.” Explaining President Roh’s statement in Mongolia, he added, “When the situation surrounding North Korea is not favorable, it is up to us to lay out a solution.” His statement is difficult to understand. Koreans never asked the government to let the U.S. decide the future of Korea. We only asked the government to seek a solution through close cooperation with the U.S. considering the fact that the U.S. is a close ally, and that it is unimaginable to find a solution to the issues surrounding the peninsula without the U.S.

The current government not only fell well below the people’s expectations, but also aggravated the situation even more. The government had to effectively leverage its alliance with the U.S. to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue, but it has worsened the situation by aggravating relations with the U.S.

“President Roh appears to be losing patience with the United States. Korea agreed with the U.S. in all issues such as troop deployment to Iraq, strategic flexibility, and relocation of U.S. forces, but what about the U.S.?” said South Korean Foreign Ministry`s special ambassador on international security Moon Jung-in, revealing discontent toward the U.S. His statement also implied the South’s intention to go separate ways with the U.S.

Can we expect the North to become a normal state by solely being on its side when it makes counterfeit currency and has no intention to improve its dire human rights conditions? By siding with the North, we will only be helping the North to earn time, and could eventually be isolated from not only the U.S. but also the whole world.

President Roh’s statement in Mongolia can be interpreted as giving more than the U.S. if it is beneficial to resolving the nuclear issue, but we must keep in mind that similar strategies failed in the past. A case in point is then Minister of Unification Chung Dong-young’s pledge to provide 2 million kilowatts of power to the North. Also, the effectiveness of former president Kim Dae-jung’s visit to the North is in question. Even if Kim Jong Il promises to come to the six-party talks, mere participation does not result in significant progress.

There are speculations that the Bush administration’s policies toward North Korea will remain largely unchanged in the next three years. The Korea-U.S. alliance will further weaken should the South continue to go separate ways with the U.S. in issues regarding the North. The Korea-U.S. alliance is essential to our security, given that we might have to live in a country surrounded by four superpowers. If the alliance falters, foreign investors will leave the country, and the economy as a whole will be severely struck.

We cannot figure out what rule the president is planning to build on the peninsula, sacrificing the alliance with the U.S. And this is disturbing Koreans. President Roh should not gamble with our future.