N. Korea Defector Holds Talks in D.C.

NYT ^ | 10/29/03

[TigerLikesRooster]

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-North-Korean-Defector.html

October 29, 2003

N. Korea Defector Holds Talks in D.C.

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 7:07 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The highest-ranking defector from North Korea, a man who once mentored leader Kim Jong Il, shared his views of the reclusive regime with senior State Department officials on Wednesday and planned to go public on Capitol Hill.

The high-profile visit of Hwang Jang Yop could strain already jumpy relations between the Bush administration and North Korea even as the United States, China, Russia, South Korea and Japan hope to stage another round of six-nation talks about North Korea's nuclear program.

After defecting in 1997, and providing his insights then to U.S. officials, Hwang was on his first visit to Washington while Wu Bangguo, China's No. 2 leader, visited Pyongyang in a bid to hold further nuclear talks.

Hwang, 81, was once chief of North Korea's parliament. South Korea has hailed his defection as an intelligence bonanza, while North Korea has denounced him as a traitor.

In South Korea, Hwang lives under tight security and has written books and given lectures condemning Kim's regime as totalitarian. Until now, South Korea has kept him from visiting the United States out of concern for his security, according to officials in Seoul.

At the State Department, Hwang met with James Kelly, the assistant secretary of state for East Asia and a key player in nuclear diplomacy, and with Fred Fleitz, of the Arms Control and International Security office. On Tuesday, Hwang held an unscheduled meeting with Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld.

Hwang also scheduled a news conference for Thursday on Capitol Hill and was due to testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The meetings at the State Department are ``interesting, important,'' department spokesman Richard Boucher said. ``It's an opportunity to talk to someone with very firsthand experience of the North Korea regime and what's going on up there.''

Also, Boucher said, ``it adds to our understanding of the situation on the peninsula.''

Beyond that, department officials were tight-lipped about Hwang's meetings.

Hwang is a former chief ideologue and head of propaganda operations in Pyongyang. U.S. officials and members of Congress were curious to hear his thoughts about Kim's decision-making process.

North Korea has frustrated U.S. officials with frequent shifts in its stand on continuing talks to resolve a stalemate over its nuclear weapons program.

[TigerLikesRooster]

In addition, Mr. Hwang met:

Sen. Sam Brownback(R) - sponsored N. Korean Freedom Act

Sen. John McCain(R)

Rep. Chris Cox(R) - a key congressional play in N. Korean WMD

He is scheduled to meet:

Paul Wolfowitz, Deputy Secretary of Defense

Who he might meet in private would be anybody's guess.:)

He will have interviews with:

NBC, AP, Washinton Times (U.S.)
TBS, NTV, Asahi TV, Yomiuri Shimbun (Japan)
BBC (U.K.)
Voice of America, Radio Free Asia

Two S. Korean government employees are tailing him everywhere, watching what he does. This must be part of the deal when S. Korean government let him out. Contemptible lefties, so-called "progressive intellectuals."

[TigerLikesRooster]

Ping!

[ChinaThreat]

You wouldn't happen to be in South Carolina would you. I know the Clemson Tigers and the U of SCarolina (Gamecocks) are rivals. I was wondering if that explained the handle.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Re #3

This is not the first time somebody popped that question to me in FR. Actually it happened a few times. Unfortunately, I have never been there. However, I loved to go there someday and visit those two colleges.:):)

Nice to talk to you. I am sure I will run into you in FR again.

Ciao!

[VOA]

Two S. Korean government employees are tailing him everywhere, watching what he does.
This must be part of the deal when S. Korean government let him out.
Contemptible lefties, so-called "progressive intellectuals."

I heard this gentleman mentioned on the "Concerned Women For America" radio show.
The host of the show, Sandi Rios (sp?) said that there are some cracks in the
South Korea "Sunshine Policy"...and that the approval rating for the new president
was now at 13%.

Maybe the South Korean populace has regained its' senses...if they did, that would
explain why we've not heard about it on the evening news!

[Steel Wolf]

In South Korea, Hwang lives under tight security and has written books and given lectures condemning Kim's regime as totalitarian. Until now, South Korea has kept him from visiting the United States out of concern for his security, according to officials in Seoul.

Right. He's much safer from North Korean agents in Seoul than he would be in the U.S. I'll buy that for a dollar.

South Korea would like nothing better than to turn a blind eye to the North, and this man threatens to speak the ugly truths they don't want heard. The actions of the South Korean government have been utterly contemptible.

[TigerLikesRooster]

RE #5

Yes, his approval rating is tanking badly. Economy was already in bad shape when he took power. He really exacerbated this situation with his anti-American rhetoric and pro-labor stance. The whole leftie nutballs came out in numbers, pushing their agendas.

Anti-American lefties, already emboldened by their successful campaign to exploit the death of two girls by an American bridge vehicle, loudly pushed for withdrawal of American troops. The possibility of no American military presence spooked the foreign investors, and most people living in and around Seoul. Economic uncertainty shot up. The credit rating of S. Korea showed the sign of dropping. Some prospective foreign investment were shelved.

Militant unions came out and tried to outdo each other in exacting concession from employers. Many protracted, often violent strikes ensued. Seeing strikers marching in thousands with countless flags and banners, wearing headbands and uniforms, became the regular features of downtown Seoul. Many got hefty pay raises, some union even got a seat in board of directors, giving them a say in running their company. Investment further froze. Some companies gave up and relocated their operation to China.

All this time, the government was preoccupied with something else. The pro-Roh Moo-hyun group inside the ruling party decided to junk the old guards and create their own party to carry out their "reform(liberal) agendas." Basically, they wanted to completely overhaul the entire politcal system. This naturally created the firestorm of infighting inside the ruling party. This is essentially the internal purge of non-Roh members. This crippled the party until this fall. Everyday, there were new episodes of infighting; finger-pointing, shouting, and outright brawls.

Inside the executive branch, chaos and confusion were the order of the day. Roh Moo-hyun himself is notorious for opening his mouth and talking too much without thinking things through. People learned not to take his words too soon. He usually backtracks, "clarifies", and equivocates a few days after his first utterance. Sometimes he goes back and forth a few times. His public relations team was heavily taxed to sort out and clean up verbal messes Roh makes daily. Others are no better. Many of his team are freelancing, frequently butting into other's turf for no reason. There is no coherent planning and focus. Things are going in every direction.

The worst problem for Roh is that Roh and his close allies began to be mired in corruption scandals. Roh campaigned during the presidential election, claiming that he is an complete outsider with little money of his own and a son of a humble peasant with mediocre education, who nevertheless rose to become a judge, and later a (human rights) lawyer. So he claimed that he is squeaky clean, which many voters bought. Unfortunately for him, media started to report that there were suspicious transactions surrounding the finance of his now-bankrupt mineral water company and real estate holdings of his close associates. Then it got much worse. One of his closest aides, Yang Gil-seung, was caught in video meeting a local mob figure, Lee Won-ho, in Chong-ju. Later, it turned out that they met several times, and Lee also met Roh, was invited to his inauguration ceremony, and even alleged to visit Roh's home. Lee was under investigation for racketeering. There is a strong suspicion that he gave money to Roh's election camp, expecting quid pro quo. These days he faces even a bigger scandal. The illegal campaign financing of last the presidential election. The ruling party extensively cooked the books on their campaign finance. The opposition party is not immune, either. As each day reveals a new batch of money unaccounted for, his vaunted integrity is in tatters.

Starting in last July, there was a whisper in political circles that a momentum may be building for an impeachment of Roh after his party's crushing rout in the general parliamentary election next April. Such whispers came to be heard more often and in wider circles since then. Now apparently sensing a danger, he decided to preempt the impeachment talk by proposing that he will ask people if they still support him as a president. He appears to settle for a referendum on Dec. 15, 2003. However, it is not yet clear if this would happen. Politicians and public all have mixed feelings about this.

This is the rundown of reasons why his approval ration dropped to teens. I feel that there could be a momentous political event between now and the first half of the next year. This could be like the Florida Recount of U.S. in Nov.-Dec., 2002. It could dramatically flip the political situation to the right. If it happens, its effect on N. Korean crisis cannot be underestimated.

[OahuBreeze]

Wow! that's a pretty observant eye. I don't know about No's approval rating, though, etc. Chances are, he would win the "vote of confidence." No is a populist, who was elected to the presidency by populism. No's policies make no rational sense -- but he can get on a tree stump, promise the wind and sky, and exploit the prejudices of the moment. IE: he's made a mess of the presidency, so he's going back to his roots. He'll marshall all his "red guard" netizens back on the streets again. If he wins, anything the opposition disagrees with him on he can say is "against the will of the people." If he loses, oh well, he's made a mess of things already anyway. If the referendum doesn't go (even if it is unconstitutional), he'll just say the opposition legislators didn't want to exercise the will of the people. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he must realize that also a considerable amount of people will vote for him just to keep some stability in the country.
As others have already mentioned, the "vote of confidence" also sets a dangerous precedent, as in the future the opposition might demand that an elected president submit to a vote of confidence every time they come to odds. Like most vain people, however, No cares little for the precedent/example he is setting -- he's obsessed with his reflection.

[OahuBreeze]

Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention, if he loses, also, it will be dramatic, self sacrificing, and then he can run around feeling sorry for himself for a few years until he makes a comeback or writes a book.

[Mamzelle]

Thanks! I really eat this kind of stuff up. Wasn't Roh's election very dependent on a grassroots internet effort among the young and the dumb?--helped out by the social contacts through the video cafes (playing games like Lineage)--I heard players of this game did a last-minute "get out the vote" that essentially put Roh into office.

Still looks like a great economy to me--one capable of mounting a grown-up military effort on its own behalf. Time for SK to be a world power.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Re #8,9

Roh and his associates are really convinced that they can always come back from the brink and prevail. He managed to do it a couple of times, including the last presidential election. Now their confidence borders on hubris. Actually the whole political left now show signs of hubris. For people who could not run anything right for 8 months, that is astonishing. I hope that their hubris gets worse. I think that it would. It has been so far. People who take a huge gamble again and again to recover from their failures will eventually lead themselves to a catastrophe. I think it is in the making. Their hubris is our best hope.

[VOA]

TigerLikesRooster,
I don't have time to read it now...but I'll be back to check out the Master's Thesis you've
posted! Looks like good reading...

[joey703]

ty... a really clean, well-done analysis.... (unbiases as well)...

to add to this...
this roh moo hyun, "president", is a complete idiot.... as soon as he became president, he had all these bold, "progressive," ideas, but he made enemies with everyone including his own former ruling party(MDP), as well as the media("Media Reform"), and he went out on TV and stated in korean of course, "I no longer believe I have the confidence to perform my job adequately as your president" (something like that).... which is so goddamn crazy....

on top of that, his administration tried a "quid pro quo" against the US where the US would take a softer stance against NK (where NK having and then selling WMDs - is national interest #1 for US) and SK would send combat troops to iraq.... (although the US did take a softer line), the US didnt take it too kindly(there was an article detailing what happened when the SK foreign minister spoke with Powell in Washington.... and then C. Rice's remarks some time ago)....

i doubt theres another national leader anywhere in the world that can be taken less seriously than Roh Moo Hyun.... (maybe, kim jong il?)...

"great changes" indeed...

[TigerLikesRooster]

Correction:

The illegal campaign financing of last the presidential election --> The illegal campaign financing of the last presidential election

This is the rundown of reasons why his approval ration dropped to teens --> This is the rundown of reasons why his approval rating dropped to teens

[bert]

I saw him last night and he said there were only 300 or so people in North Korea in effect holding all the rest hostage.

[Guillermo]

Trust me...you don't want to visit either of those schools...I've been.

If you want to visit some good schools, try the University of Georgia, in Athens or the University of Miami, in Coral Gables, Fla.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Re #13

Roh is treated like a drunken fool in a party by Americans. Party hosts keep smiling at him and try to calm him down, wishpering to him that he is their great friends. They try best to keep the appearance of a great party. However, they would rather kill him if they can. Roh apparently claims that he is indeed a great friend of Bush. However, he lives in fear of U.S. yanking troops from DMZ, setting off panic in a majority of general S. Korean population, which could be enough to destroy his political career, and his much-touted reform agenda(translation: leftist agenda.)

[TigerLikesRooster]

Re #15

That is true. Remove the tip of power pyramid, and you could take over the control of the state. N. Korean system is a completely centralized top-down system. People are brought up to obey instructions from above. So you can easily institute a top-down political change if you replace the top elites.

[risk]

bump

Note that democracies can appear weaker because leadership isn't siezed directly by superior force. The DPRK shouldn't underestimate the effect its threats are having on the courage of the average free individual in South Korea, however. A democratic mess can quickly transform into a fiery pro-defense posture. The thought of losing freedom is a powerful motivator.

[AmericanInTokyo]

To you and the other sages on Korea regularly posting here on FR:

Let's all try to make a promise with optimism for the future:

Once it is safe to go in as a Westerner, and if some of us have the means to go,

"Let's Meet At The Toppled Statue In Pyongyang"

Man do I ever look forward to that glorious day, which, IMHO, is probably less than five years away.