Foreign Affairs

soryang

(3,299 posts) Fri Jan 17, 2020, 01:02 AM Jan 2020

South Korea should coordinate with U.S. to avoid 'misunderstandings' when engaging North: ambassador

South Korea should coordinate with U.S. to avoid 'misunderstandings' when engaging North: ambassador
Josh Smith Reuters Jan 16

SEOUL (Reuters) - To avoid any “misunderstandings” that could trigger sanctions, South Korea should run any plans to engage with North Korea through a joint working group established with the United States, the U.S. ambassador to South Korea said on Thursday.

Ambassador Harry Harris said that he did not have an official U.S. position on South Korean proposals such as reopening individual tourism to its northern neighbor, but that it is important for Washington and Seoul to consult closely with each other.

As denuclearisation negotiations with North Korea stall, South Korean President Moon Jae-in has said he would seek to move forward on inter-Korean projects as a way to improve ties with Pyongyang.

“In order to avoid a misunderstanding later that could trigger sanctions... it’s better to run this through the working group,” Harris told reporters, referring to a group established in 2018 in a bid to bridge the two allies’ sometimes divergent approaches to North Korea.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-southkorea-usa/south-korea-should-coordinate-with-us-to-avoid-misunderstandings-when-engaging-north-ambassador-idUSKBN1ZF0RT

Stand at attention when I'm talking to you Moon!

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South Korea should coordinate with U.S. to avoid 'misunderstandings' when engaging North: ambassador (Original Post) soryang Jan 2020 OP

U.S. ambassador comments on inter-Korean tourism "inappropriate," South says soryang Jan 2020 #1

soryang

(3,299 posts)

1. U.S. ambassador comments on inter-Korean tourism "inappropriate," South says

Reply to soryang (Original post)

Fri Jan 17, 2020, 11:15 AM

Jan 2020

U.S. ambassador comments on inter-Korean tourism “inappropriate,” South says
Statement follows Harry Harris's insistence that any South Korean travel to the North may require ROK-U.S. consultation
Oliver Hotham January 17, 2020

South Korea’s Blue House on Friday condemned recent remarks by U.S. ambassador Harry Harris on a possible resumption of inter-Korean tourism as “very inappropriate,” in the latest escalation of a growing spat between the two countries over Seoul’s plans to expand inter-Korean tourism.

Responding to a question from NK News at a press briefing on Thursday, Ambassador Harris said that any revival of inter-Korean tourism — proposed by South Korean President Moon Jae-in at a new year’s press conference earlier in the week — would need to be the subject of consultation between the allies.

The Blue House hit back on those comments in a statement on Friday, stressing that the issue of South Korea sending its citizens on independent tours of North Korea was a matter of national sovereignty.

“It’s very inappropriate for the ambassador to make such a mention for media over remarks by the president of the hosting nation,” an official from the Presidential office told media in comments carried by Yonhap News Agency, adding that South Korea would “always” consult with the U.S. over the issue of North Korea.

https://www.nknews.org/2020/01/seoul-slams-inappropriate-u-s-ambassador-comments-on-inter-korean-tourism/

Amb. Harris continues to alienate South Koreans. He is vain, arrogant, tactless, and authoritarian. He typically speaks in the imperative to our long standing ally. A veteran member of the National Assembly who was recently jawboned by Harris for excessive amounts of money in the military cost burden sharing agreement described Harris as the rudest ambassador she ever met. A phrase he has used on multiple occassions while speaking to what the South Korean government "must do," in recent days, is "lock step." The South Korea must be in "lock step" with US policy. It is no wonder he is referred to as the "Governor General" by many critical observers in a reference to South Korea's tragic experiences as colony of imperial Japan. The career military man was a poor choice for ambassador.

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