The United States, South Korea, and North Korea Anxiously Eye Former President Carter’s Visit

After arriving in Seoul on April 28, the former presidents and prime ministers of Finland, Ireland and Norway joined former U.S. President Carter on a visit to North Korea. Carter visited North Korea last year in August but couldn’t meet with Secretary General Kim Jong Il. In light of that, before his visit this time to North Korea and in order to gain favor with the country’s leaders, he made statements that could be taken to mean that South Korea is responsible North Korea’s food shortage. He also publicly stated that he would like to meet with Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Un. In spite of these statements, he wasn’t able to meet with the North Korean leader. However, at a press conference in Seoul, Carter stated that Kim “is prepared to meet directly with (South Korean) President Lee Myung-bak any time.” Kim’s positive attitude toward a meeting with South Korea could mean big news.

On the 27th, during his stay in North Korea, Carter wrote in a blog on The Elders website that “[North Korea] is prepared to talk without preconditions to both the U.S. and South Korea on any subject. The sticking point — and it’s a big one — is that they won’t give up their nuclear programme without some kind of security guarantee from the U.S. … It is to my mind a tragedy that, more than 60 years after the Armistice that ended the Korean War, North and South Korea have not signed a peace treaty.”

Before his visit, he planned to visit with Kim and talk about denuclearization, but suddenly North Korea’s good intentions vanished and they gave the same excuse: “Without a peace agreement from the U.S., we won’t give up our nuclear program.” North Korea has been seeking a peace agreement from the United States for more than just a year or two. It is doubtful whether it was necessary for them to bring those former presidents and former prime ministers all the way to Pyongyang to presumptively represent their countries.

The Obama administration, which represents the same Democratic Party of which Carter is a member, decidedly distanced itself from the situation by saying that Carter is “traveling in a private capacity.”* South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Byung-Jae has called Carter “an outsider” and said that any message he brings back from North Korea will not be considered. When former President Clinton visited Kim, he was able to retrieve the hostages. But Carter, whose recent visit was his second to North Korea, wasn’t even able to meet the North Korean leader. Carter has no choice but to realize that he can’t be of any more help.

Suzanne Scholte, chairperson of the North Korea Freedom Coalition, responded to Carter’s visit on the 28th by saying “We are ashamed to see a former American president who claims to care about human rights, now attempting to prolong the Korean War by serving as a mouthpiece for the Kim Jong Il regime.” It seems the time has come for even former President Carter to end his personal role North and South Korean affairs.

*Editor’s note: This quote actually came from a representative of the U.S. State Department.