The Embassy in the US is in a battle over ‘diplomacy with the US’... “Can’t shake it” “Cracks the alliance”

At the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee's audit of the embassy to the United States on the 12th (local time), lawmakers from the ruling and opposition parties engaged in a fierce battle over the Lee Jae-myung administration's diplomacy with the United States.

While opposition party lawmakers criticized that a crack had appeared in the ROK-U.S. alliance, citing disruptions in intelligence cooperation between Korea and the U.S., ruling party lawmakers countered that diplomatic issues resulting from changes in the foreign policy of the Donald Trump administration should not be defined as a rift in the alliance.

At the National Assembly inspection held at the US embassy in Washington DC on this day, People Power Party lawmakers went on the offensive from the beginning, criticizing Ambassador to the US Kang Kyung-wha when she explained suggestions such as the embassy building reconstruction project and increasing the budget for inviting US lawmakers to visit Korea immediately after her work report.

Rep. Kim Geon of the People Power Party, a former diplomat, expressed his gratitude by saying, "There are high concerns about the relationship with the United States, and I regret that the embassy has made such a long business report without any sense of tension or awareness of the problem."

Song Seok-joon, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the same party, also said, "These days, concerns are growing that the relationship between Korea and the United States is cracking in various ways."

Ambassador Kang refuted this by saying, "I pointed out a relaxed perception, but that is absolutely not the case," and added, "We are keenly aware that there are many concerns (in Korea), and because we are at the scene, we feel the awareness of the problem more vividly."

He emphasized, "The relationship between Korea and the United States is a relationship that has developed as an alliance for over 70 years, so it is not a relationship that remains on pending issues, but is much deeper and broader."

Representative Kim said, “The current Lee Jae-myung administration is unable to create key figures among Trump’s associates who support the ROK-US alliance,” and pointed out that the support for the ROK-US alliance within the US Department of Defense is also weakening. He also criticized that the military and information channels between the two countries are not working properly.

In response, Ambassador Kang said, “I disagree with the statement that the military channel is not working,” but added, “I will admit that there are limits to communication with the White House.”

Rep. Ko Dong-jin of the same party urged the government to respond diplomatically, saying that President Lee Jae-myung's plan to invest 800 trillion won in Honam semiconductors provided the U.S. government with an excuse to pressure Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to make additional investments in the United States.

On the other hand, Rep. Park Seong-joon of the Democratic Party of Korea said, "The Trump administration views alliances not only as blood alliances but also as transactional relationships," and added, "Because of America's prioritization of national interests, not only in military security but also in economic terms, quite a few issues are bound to come up."

He went on to refute the opposition party's argument, saying, "This is the same in Canada and Europe," adding, "Accusing the division of Korea-U.S. relations over a single diplomatic issue is a poor view of the larger trend of the international order."

Representative Park, however, emphasized that the role of diplomacy is to resolve issues where the national interests of Korea and the United States conflict, saying, “Diplomacy is about untangling the tangled threads of pending issues.”

Representative Maeng Seong-gyu of the same party said that major issues such as nuclear-powered submarines, dispatch of troops to Hormuz, and transfer of wartime operational control are simultaneously facing Korea and the United States, and urged the Embassy in the U.S. to act proactively to ensure that Korea's position is reflected in the U.S. policy-making process.

Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon pointed out, “It is a reality that diplomacy with the U.S. has become more difficult than in the past, and it is fate that we must respond to that reality,” and added, “This is not an issue that can be excused by saying that the U.S. has become a little strange.”

Representative Han mentioned the incident in which a South Korean soldier was injured due to North Korea's planting of a land mine in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and asked Ambassador Kang whether he believed it was an intentional attack by North Korea.

When Ambassador Kang responded by quoting the Joint Chiefs of Staff's announcement by saying, "It is clear that North Korea buried it," a member of the National Assembly raised his voice, saying, "It is strange," and asked, "Why can't the Ambassador to the United States publicly state his position on the issue of our people being seriously injured by North Korea's land mine attack?"

In response to repeated questions from a member of the National Assembly, Ambassador Kang said, "I think quoting what a responsible official said is a responsible public statement," but added, "It is clearly not an accident."

Meanwhile, Chairman Song asked Consul General Lee Kyung-eun in Houston, who attended the National Assembly inspection, whether he had been contacted by Director Kim Hyun-ji of the First Affiliated Office of the Presidential Office regarding his appointment as Consul General. Consul General Lee responded, "I do not know (Director Kim) personally."

Chairman Song mentioned that Consul General Lee's younger brother is lawyer Lee Seung-yeop, who was President Lee Jae-myung's defense lawyer in the Daejeon-dong case, and mentioned the fact that this lawyer was mentioned as a candidate for the Constitutional Court.

Consul General Lee responded, “I understand that my younger brother has made his opinion clear on that issue from the beginning.”