Korean Job Discussion Forums

[wylies99]

01-06-2009 17:28
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2009/01/137_37375.html

Kathleen 'the Great'

By Oh Young-jin
Assistant Managing Editor

Name one favor U.S. President Bush has done for Korea.

It is not hard to make up a shortlist since it is really short. After all, the outgoing American head of state has contributed to a general aggravation of his country's standing not only in the Muslim world but also among its traditional allies such as Korea.

But his appointment ― albeit it was more likely at the behest of Secretary of State Condalezza Rice ― of Ambassador Kathleen Stephens will in all likelihood have a lasting impact on the two nations' relationship for the better.

Of course, the proud daughter of Texas has yet to prove herself under fire but, as things stand now, many Koreans would share my regret that she did not come sooner. The point is made plain, considering the all-male lineage of her predecessors. For instance, Alexander Vershbow, whom she succeeded, was known to hold a great amount of disdain for Korea and was quite open about it.

Besides, his drum work, hyped by the Korean media and revered by the larger audience who didn't have a chance to listen, was mediocre even by an amateur's standards, according to one ``eyewitness.'' With Ambassador Stephens in place, the ``April beef crisis'' could have been handled differently. The crisis is to be looked back upon as the single most important watershed that has generalized anti-American sentiment among Koreans.

Amb. Stephens is deftly handling her part of helping turn that ill will into a good one.

First, her Korean language skills are instrumental. The Peace Corps program has its share of duds among its participants, but finds success with Stephens. One of the first things she did when she returned to Korea was visit a middle school where she taught English. Watching her speak with her former colleagues during their reunion tugged the heartstrings of Koreans, some of whom may as well have felt as if her tour of duty was the return of a long-lost daughter. In the process, she became one of ``us'' and helped Koreans put behind them remnants of their inferiority complex with the Big Brother in the United States, at least for a while.

A look at an extensive itinerary she is completing in addition her visit to the middle schools in Yesan and Buyeo reinforces where her true heart lies. Especially her recent visit to Kim Koo Museum was memorable since the museum is for Korea's leading independence fighter during Japan's colonial occupation. The independence fighter, often revered as a seminal person of Korea's progressivism, was a strong candidate whose portrait was considered for use on new 100,000-won bills. The new bill plan was nixed, with speculation rife that the conservative Lee Myung-bak government disapproved of the use of Kim's portrait.

Kim had a run-in with U.S. military authorities, who favored U.S.-educated Syngman Rhee and forced Kim to return to his liberated fatherland as an ``ordinary'' man, being deprived of his status as head of the provisional government. Stephens adroitly dodged the historical implications her visit might trigger, saying that her visit, together with a son she had with a Korean husband, was educational in purpose.

To top it all, she has a combination of modesty and occasional self-deprecation that appeals to Koreans in particular. According to our Embassy Row reporter, she often puts down her command of Korean by reciting an old Korean saying that is used to show modesty when complimented. With a western touch of modernization, the saying would go, ``A dog spending three years keeping the gate of Shakespeare's house can recite from the Bard's verses.''

Few Koreans would have illusions about what her priorities are and where her loyalty lies. She showed she is an American patriot from bottom to top, quite literally, when she showed up for a U.S. election-day reception with her ``patriotic shoes'' on. The shoes have an American flag embroidered on their sides.

Considering the amount of good will she has accumulated during a short period, she finds herself in a better position than others to serve the two allies' interests.

She will have her chance to put that capital into good use. The administration of the incoming U.S. President Obama is set to pick up from where the second term of the Clinton administration left off in its policy on Korea, considering Obama's choice of appointees in key positions. President Lee Myung-bak, who assumes the same color and shape of policy as the outgoing Republican President Bush, will be taxed to tune in with the Obama team, increasing the chances of friction. There are bound to be limits to how much one ambassador can do but I am sure that Stephens will be able to top the upper limit. Besides, she has already met half of Obama's key foreign affairs goals ― undoing what his predecessor has done for eight years and putting on a friendly face to the world.

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[VanIslander]

kicking a dog when he's down - for Koreans it's 'a cultural thing'

[Pligganease]

That piece isn't bashing the States, so to speak.

It more or less bashes the old ambassador and praises the new one. I see that story as a praise of the US more than a criticism.

[Gopher]

[On the other hand]

[Beej]

[chickenpie]

[Gopher]

[blaseblasphemener]

Does she mean the Korean beef crisis where Koreans showed themselves to be sheep, and then the first chance they got, made U.S. beef #1 in Korea?

That "crisis"?

[mises]

ROK prosperity is almost entirely due to a preferential and wildly unbalanced trading relationship with the United States. I sincerely hope this comes to an end.

[PeteJB]

[Beej]

Analogy time. Lets say you have a rare form of cancer. You go to a brilliant doctor. He is the only doctor in the world who can cure you. He takes great care of you, cures you, and saves your life.
Do you then tell the doctor to go eff himself because 1) he doesnt really care about you anyway 2) he just became a doctor to get rich and get a pretty wife.

[Joo Rip Gwa Rhhee]

[quote="On the other hand"]

[Leslie Cheswyck]

[RJjr]