Posted on 06/15/2003 6:13:41 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
/begin my translation
Clinton invited Kim Jong-Il, but Kim refused
The former president Kim Dae-Jung disclosed that the former American president Bill Clinton invited chairman Kim Jong-Il for U.S. visit. But N. Korea refused.
In his interview on KBS (TV program) "Sunday Special," the former president Kim recollected the time toward the end of Clinton presidency when U.S.-N. Korean dialogue was at its peak. He revealed, "President Clinton sent me a letter. In it he invited chairman Kim to visit U.S.. But he refused to go." He went on to say, "Why did he not go? He should have. He hesitated and an election was held in U.S.. Republicans won. Everything went back to square one."
Throughout his interview, he complained about N. Korea's timid attitude. He deplored, "Great agreements were reached on such things as (reconnecting) Kyong-Ui railroads and (building) Kae-sung Industry Complex. We could have implemented them. That would have been a great progress. But he failed to follow through. Most of all, chairman Kim did not come to Seoul. I was disappointed."
On resolving N. Korean nuclear crisis, he said, "The solution is quite obvious. N. Korea gives up nukes and subjects herself to an irreversible complete verification. Then U.S. guarantees N. Korean security." He said that N. Korea should give up nukes first. In particular, he said, "N. Koreans must have seen with their eyes how Hussein regime collapsed. This should be the lesson to N. Korea. N. Korea should immediately accept the 5 way talk which includes S. Korea and Japan. It should not be difficult."
He continued, "Right now, pride or brinkmanship won't help N. Korea. Things have been changed. This is not '94. Clinton adminstration is gone." He asked N. Korea to follow the changing tide of the time.
/snip
/end my translation
Kim Dae-Jung is now in the eye of the storm called "Cash-for-Summit Scandal." Several of his minions were either already indicted or in danger of being indicted. It is revealed through an ongoing investigation that $500 million was indeed illegally sent to secure Kim Dae-Jung's summit with Kim Jong-Il. Many laws were broken. His reputation is in ruins. However it remains to be seen if the current president Roh Moo-Hyun intervenes and keeps them from serving any jail time.
In this article, he is essentially complaining bitterly to Kim Jong-Il for not following through. If Kim Jong-Il visited Seoul and Washington D.C., more agreements were signed and all these illegal transactions under the table may not have come out. Even if they did, it may not have been so damaging. So goes his reasoning, it appears.
Basically, he claims that he did not see Kim Jong-Il for what he really is, a despot bent on continuing to extort other countries for their money and still keep his edge of intimidation. He is either stupid or blatantly disingenuous here, in my opinion. Predictably, now he is changing this tune to accomodate the Bush's line. If he took a tougher line earlier, this belated attempt at persuading N. Korea would have been unnecessary.
Can you elaborate a little?
Interesting take. Probably true, too.
Bump.
Thanks for your reply.
"Right now, pride or brinkmanship won't help N. Korea. Things have been changed. This is not '94. Clinton adminstration is gone." He asked N. Korea to follow the changing tide of the time.
First of all, when I said, "accomodating Bush's line", I meant that he couched his arguement with the packaging of Bush's new approach. He had not really spoken about the dire consequences if N. Korea does not heed America. He did his best to avoid uttering such words. Now he is flashing the possibility of the dire consequence. But, essentially he is still all for "Sunshine". A lot of S. Korean carrots but no S. Korean sticks except some reference to possible American sticks, that is.
As for him seeing the forest, he only sees the liberal half of the forest, where negotiations with Kim Jong-Il are moving smoothly. He apparently refuses to see that N. Korean regime is not really up for give-and-take, but essentially for take-and-take. Because it is a regime too far gone to reform itself even if it generally feel that something needs to be done. It tends to back out of any commitment at the slightest misgivings because it knows deep down that it cannot sustain even a mild change. That is the nature of the regime. The least it has to do is to convene a large party meeting and officially remove all Stalinist upper leadership and bring in a new pragmatic leadership and chart a new course as China or Vietnam did. Or Soviet Union after the death of Stalin. That may not be sufficient. But it is the required minimum.
Kim Dae-Jung is good at cut and paste a lot of articles and make some nice speech out of it. He is eager to show others that he knows his stuff. But his stuff is more for impressing others with his "intellectual prowress" than really solving the problem at hand.
All you read from the article could be his repackaging and spin after the fact. Kim Jong-Il did not play as he wanted. Getting really impatient, he threw Kim Jong-Il just about everything he wanted. Kim Jong-Il played him like a fiddle. Kim Jong-Il may not have done any good for him or his country in the long-term. But Kim Jong-Il got what he wanted. One source of this impatience is Kim Dae-Jung's obsession with Nobel Peace Prize. He had to get it at all costs. While he lobbied hard to those with connections to Nobel committe, he bought the summit with at least $500 million dollars of cash, which was poured into developing missiles and nukes, as it turned out.
He is a cover-up artist who can put up a good front. The good front is always his ostentatious display of his intellectual prowress.
Being that Kim is afraid or unwilling to get on a plane, and so far hasn't even troubled himself to come go to Seoul, I'd say that the idea of him coming to the U.S. was a bit of a stretch. Unless they held the meeting in Vegas, that is. I'm sure that would have gotten Kim's atten
If he ever comes to U.S., he would come by a cruise ship. Indeed, it is credible to assume that he could not come here because of his fear of flying. On top of that, he may have trouble handling himself in an open environment of the west, where he is not viewed as a god.
If he wanted to meet Clinton, he would have invited Clinton himself. I am sure that Clinton was happy to oblige. Actually, that almost happened. Clinton's team went to N. Korea and settled on many issues. The only thing left was for Clinton to go there and sign the deal with Kim Jong-Il. But Florida recount flap happened and Clinton was fully occupied. Quite likely, it was the twist which had changed the course of the history.
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