Lee Explains His “Demolition” Remark

Lee Jae-jeong, the senior vice president of the National Unification Advisory Council and the person who has informally been designated as the next Minister of Unification, said on November 15, “The Bush Administration should depart from its policy of pursuing the demolition of the North Korean regime.”

At the Tower Hotel located at Jangchung-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul that day, Lee offered a lecture in the “2006 Forum for the Next Generation Leaders in the English Community.” The comment above was made after he said, “The Bush Administration should take a step back from its one-sided policies toward North Korea and take the lead in changing (the regime) through sincere negotiations such as those that changed America’s relations with Vietnam.”

Lee’s comment is expected to cause diplomatic problems because it implies that Washington is trying to break the regime in Pyongyang. The official stance of America is to induce regime transformation, which excludes the option of eliminating Kim Jong Il.

During the lecture, which was conducted in English, Lee also argued regarding the ROK-U.S. alliance, “Although close cooperation between the two states is necessary, it shouldn’t obstruct decisions affecting our national destiny.”

In a telephone interview with Dong-A Ilbo, Lee explained, “What I meant was that I hope Washington will actively seek a solution because they have already decided to take the option of talking with Pyongyang at the six-party table. I was also delivering the lecture under the title of the senior vice president of the NUAC.”

taewon_ha@donga.com