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Prof. Yi Jang Hui
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By Prof. Yi Jang Hui
Vice President, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies
In the wake of the withdraw of Japanese plans to have the Japan Coast Guard perform an oceanographic survey, Korean president Roh Moo Hyun officially declared last month that he will abandon a "quiet diplomacy" strategy regarding the contested island of Dokdo.
The president called Dokdo an issue relating to history of Korea's sovereign independence and to the defense of that sovereignty. He said that he would actively heal the damage to Dokdo's history and sovereignty done by that quiet diplomacy and defend it in specific ways. He made a difficult foreign policy decision, one no other president has been able to make. Now what remains is for the related government ministries to carry out the president's will about defending sovereignty and history with follow-up measures, as should the ruling and opposition parties, which will have to rise above their differences to that end.
It is unfortunate that, as time goes by, you again hear strange attacks being made on the president's "upright" foreign policy, and at every possible opportunity. The president's recent announcement is supported by 95 percent of the people, and yet you hear criticism that includes questions about whether the president should get directly involved in sensitive issues of foreign policy to condescending accusations that the announcement was all "for domestic purposes." The only people who will like that criticism are in Japan.
Whatever some may say, even a child could tell you that it has been since the new fishing agreement between Korea and Japan signed in 1999 that Japan has been intensifying its offensive stance, because that agreement weakened Korea's territorial rights to Dokdo. Therefore, instead making a big commotion over the formality of creating a task force on the islets, the government should also start something like a "Committee on Reforming the Korea-Japan Fishing Agreement."
However, the government ministries that would be involved are avoiding the topic of revising the agreement and telling the press that the president is not interested in having the agreement revised, and by doing so are confusing the essence of the issue. The president clearly recognizes the problems with the agreement, but he is agonizing over specifically what to do about the physical clashes and ways fishermen would suffer should it actually be revised. Revising the agreement and figuring out what to do when it is revised are separate issues. According to a new international maritime law that took effect in 1994 each country declared exclusive economic zones (EEZ), and one can thoroughly recognize that the process began in the inevitability that came in the form of Korea's economic emergency in 1997. However, it must be recognized that various clauses in the agreement harm Korea's territorial claims on Dokdo. The issue is not a question of who should bear responsibility. This is about the people's desire to protect history and sovereignty for future generations. Despite that, the related government ministry, in the name of quiet diplomacy, is saying the agreement is purely about fishing and has nothing to do with territorial rights. It says that since Korea has actual control over the islets, the best policy is to take no action. As a result, people and groups not associated with the government such as scholars and civic groups have refrained from taking issue with the fishing agreement. Subsequently, in the international community Japan's distorted claims dominate the stage six times more than those of Korea. Put differently, quiet diplomacy has made the Dokdo dispute what it is today. The "Japanese connection" is making calculated moves in Korea right now. The people are watching to see the true essence of the elements that are trying to return the country to quiet diplomacy again by skillfully distorting the truth of the president's intentions and disregarding what he says, despite the fact that he has clearly stated his position. The people will tolerate this no longer, and they will no longer let quiet diplomacy hurt history and sovereignty like it did in the past.
