by Frank James
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Most close observers of journalism know we journalists like a good disagreement. It makes a much more interesting story when people don’t get along than when they do.
So at an event like an international economic summit attended by heads of government, which tend to be fairly predictable affairs with the required bland communiques and class photos of national leaders, a dustup like today’s between President Bush and South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun makes reporters perk up.
As has been widely reported, the South Korean leader was particularly insistent that Bush declare the Korean War officially over. A truce was declared more than 50 years ago but hostilities haven’t been declared officially over.
And Bush wasn’t going to declare them over today, saying North Korea had to change its behavior, such as its nuclear activities, before that could happen.
At the very least, after the exchange between the two presidents a reporter no longer has to bang his or head against a wall as he or she tries to figure out what the story’s lead is.
But today’s misunderstanding between Bush and Roh fits the long pattern of the U.S.-South Korean relations which is one of the longest love-hate relationships in modern world history.
As stated in a recent paper edited by Brad Glosserman, executive director of the Pacific Forum at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the edginess between the governments of both nations is of long standing.
Tensions in the U.S.-ROK relationship are not new. The two countries’ alliance has survived repeated stresses and strains. President Jimmy Carter’s promise to reduce the U.S. force presence in South Korea in 1977 alarmed conservatives in both countries who feared the move would undermine deterrence and send the wrong signal to North Korea.
So today’s face off between the two presidents may not represent a new low in U.S.-South Korean relations. But it’s good television. And it sure makes coming up with the way to start the story a whole lot easier.