Seoul, South Korea – From February 18-22, 2007, PDP Co-Directors Ashton B. Carter and William J. Perry led a U.S. delegation to the Republic of Korea to meet with prominent South Korean politicians, experts, and potential pPresidential candidates.
Carter and Perry were joined by former ROK-US Combined Forces Command/US Forces Korea General John Tilelli, Jr.; Dean of the Fletcher School and former Ambassador to the Republic of Korea Stephen Bosworth; President of Bell Labs at Alcatel-Lucent Jeong Kim, and PDP Associate Director Deborah Gordon.
This series of unofficial meetings allowed leaders from both countries to speak candidly and off-the-record about bilateral, regional, and global issues of concern to both countries. PDP led a similar delegation to South Korea and Japan in April 2005 to build confidence and increase trust between the United States and its allies, and the 2007 meeting provided an excellent forum for discussing key developments from the last two years, as well as the future of the U.S.-ROK alliance.
In Korea, the group met with Foreign Minister Song Min- sSoon, Chief ROK Negotiator in the Six Party Talks Chun Young- Woo, National AssemblywomanMember and former GNP lLeader Park Geun -Hye, former Prime Minister Goh Kun, former ROK Ambassador to the United States Lee Hong -Koo,presidential candidate and former Minister of Unification Chung Dong -Young, leading presidential candidate and former Seoul Mayor Lee Myung -Bak, now former presidential candidate and former Governor of Gyeonggi ProvinceSohn Hak -Kyu, Seoul Forum for International Affairs President and former Foreign Minister Han Sung -Joo, and PANTECH President B.Y. Park.
The PDP delegation also spoke with current American leaders in Korea, including current Commander UNC/CFC/USFK Commander General Burwell B. Bell, and current U.S. Ambassador to South Korea the Republic of Korea Sandy Vershbow.
During the four day visit, participants underscored the importance of the U.S.-ROK alliance, discussed near- and long-term strategies for dealing with North Korea, and highlighted the need to strengthen both countries’ bilateral relationships with China and Japan.
American delegates noted that the alliance, hinged upon – and the U.S. troop military presence that goes with it – on the Korean Peninsula, is crucial for preserving peace and stability in East Asia. They reiterated that and thus. Emphasizing that America’s commitment to the ROK will not wane as U.S. troops forces are relocated on the
Ppeninsula, and ., tThey further further notedemphasizedthe importance of that maintaining keepingthe importance of maintaining a strong the a strong alliance strong in the coming years is essential, as Korea prepares to for the transfer of wartime operational command of ROK forces from CFC to ROK commandforces and , and both countries undergo changes in political leadership.
All welcomed last week’s agreement in the Six Party Talks, and the American delegates stressed that as the process continues, it was important to the importance of synchronizethe importance of synchronizing economic, financial, and political strategies to address the security concerns of all every party involved to address collective security concernsas the process moves forward. PDP participants urged their South Korean colleagues to remain firm in their dealings with the North, noting that both carrots and sticks will likely be necessary to achieve complete denuclearization of the pPeninsula.
Before departing, the PDP delegation paid an informal, informational visit to the Kaesong Industrial Region, a collaborative economic development project in the historically symbolic city in a special administrative region located six miles north of the DMZ in North Korea, to learn more about this joint economic experiment in ROK/DPRK cooperation between the two Koreas and its impact on the opening of the North Korean economy.