Obama Shows His Fists in South Korea

In Seoul, the United States president was welcomed with a black belt.

Apparently, American President Barack Obama grew very tired during his tour of East Asia. His tough negotiations with the Chinese, who managed to get very serious concessions from Washington, were particularly exhausting. So when he arrived in South Korea, where the talks promised to be easy and pleasant, he apparently decided to get a good rest (while continuing to work).

As soon as Obama got off the plane at a U.S. military base near Seoul, it became apparent that if not everyone on the Korean soil was happy to see him, then at least an overwhelming majority of people were. The conservative part of the Korean establishment was happy about the arrival of an old, proven, main ally. The liberal part, especially young people, were thrilled about the fact that the visitor was “not Bush” (of whom even Koreans grew tired). As a result, contrary to the old custom of meeting the U.S. president with dozens of protests, this time the local media reported that at least 12,000 people lined up along the U.S. president’s route, and happily waved American and South Korean flags. Of course, in some places, farmers still organized pickets and chanted anti-American slogans. But that was nothing compared to prior years. The 13,000 policemen and intelligence personnel who were mobilized to ensure the safety of the visitor were very calm, if not half-asleep. All in all, Seoul was happy to welcome Obama.

Korean President Lee Myung-bak seemingly decided to keep up with his people. Although he’s old enough to be Obama’s father, for the sake of diplomacy he greeted the American as though Obama was an old friend from his childhood. Exiting his limousine with a Hollywood smile, the U.S. president immediately fell into the arms of the South Korean leader, who slapped Obama’s back and talked to him breathlessly for a long time. Not to be outdone, the guest from Washington responded with effusive compliments, and did not stop until he reached the guest book, where he wrote, “May the friendship between our two people be everlasting.” This passage was then gladly quoted by practically every local publication. Although afterward, Obama remembered that he did not come to play around, and said that there were a lot of things to do. Obama and Lee went to talk about these matters in a private discussion.

The agreements reached during this visit reflected the “meeting of two good, old friends” atmosphere. Seoul and Washington showed that, in almost every area, they have very similar (if not identical) positions, which really pleased each side. Thus, as expected, they demanded the complete and irreversible nuclear disarmament of North Korea, and urged Pyongyang to return to six-party talks. Much to Seoul’s delight, Obama also officially referred to the South Korean president’s previously-proposed big idea of providing North Korea with extensive economic aid in exchange for its nuclear arsenal. Clearly, the subtext was that the U.S. and South Korea will coordinate all their moves against North Korea, and won’t let Pyongyang split their united allied front.

At the same time, when referring to North Korea, Barack Obama said, “We always keep the door open to negotiations.” He also officially announced, for the first time, the exact date of the visit of his special envoy, Stephen Bosworth, to Pyongyang – December 8. Obama was deeply moved when he realized that the last segment of his East Asian tour was a complete success, and said that out of all the countries he visited during the tour, South Koreans were the most hospitable hosts.

By the way, as it turns out, when Barack Obama was a Senator in Chicago five years ago, he earned a green belt in Tae Kwon Do. In the birthplace of this martial art, people have decided that the American president deserves a better rank: master. Obama immediately decided to show reporters that he did not receive such a high title due to his political position, alone (but rather really deserved it). He got into a fighting stance, and performed several techniques in the air. The South Korean president first tried to follow his example, but then gave up.