Former American ambassador to South Korea Donald Gregg visited Hopkins to speak about United States-Korea relations as the last installment in the 2005 Foreign Affairs Symposium on Monday night.
Gregg began his discussion by giving a brief history of American-Korean relations before the Korean War. He discussed what he called the "First Korean War" which occurred shortly after the American Civil War.
"I doubt that anyone in the room has even heard of this war. Most American's haven't. But everyone in Korea knows what happened," Gregg said.
In July of 1844, the United States decided to try to establish a commercial relationship with Korea, which at the time was called "The Hermit Kingdom."
After the Civil War, when the Army was no longer occupied by war, a ship called the USS General Sherman was sent to Korea, to discuss a possible relationship. The Koreans refused, and when the Americans refused to leave, a battle ensued, which the Americans lost.
In 1868, the USS Shenendoah came to Korea trying to determine the fate of the General Sherman. When they found out the entire crew had been killed, a short war ensued, which the United States easily won.
"As ambassador in South Korea, I still felt the resentment that the Koreans feel for the United States about this war," Gregg said. "They are still very reluctant to trust Americans."
Gregg argued that the United States' troubled history with Korea made them less likely to accept help in the Korean War of the 1950's, and more doubtful of our true interests.
He quoted a South Korean official who to this day views American involvement in Korea to be more hurtful than helpful.
"If you Americans hadn't intervened in 1950, yes, we would have been overrun by the North, but we would have united, and sorted our problems out. We would be one Korea."
Gregg then discussed American foreign policy in North and South Korea, given these differences in culture and understanding. He called American diplomacy in Korea "the longest running failure in the history of American diplomacy."
"The generational divide in Korea is stronger than any other place I am aware of," said Gregg, arguing that the new generation in Korea is resentful of America and sees them as responsible for the current divide between the two Koreas.
Gregg argued that throughout the 1990s, American diplomacy with Korea has gotten progressively worse. The modern, nuclear problems began in 1994, when North Korea sent a message which talked about burying Seoul, the South Korean capital, in a "Sea of Fire."
To solve the problem, former president Jimmy Carter visited North Korea and had a successful talk. "This laid the framework for productive diplomacy with North Korea. But unfortunately, we didn't take advantage of it," said Gregg.
Gregg argued that in 1994 the Republicans, led by Newt Gingrich, took control of both houses of Congress and had a very different take on North Korea.
"We refused to lift any sanctions against Korea, and we refused to take them off the list of terrorist states," said Gregg.
"This had a terrible effect in Korea. They saw our change in attitude and refused our new attempts at diplomacy."
In 2000, however, Gregg saw a new opportunity for the United States to pick up talks with North Korea. Kim Jong-Il, the new Korean leader, asked for outgoing president Clinton to visit. He sent Secretary of State Madeline Albright, who had a successful meeting.
After the events of September 11, however, everything changed once again. George Bush named North Korea as one of the three members of the Axis of Evil, and diplomacy was shut down again.
"She [Albright] left a very good hand of cards on the table for the Bush administration, which they certainly didn't pick up," Gregg argued.
Gregg finished by strongly encouraging further diplomacy with North Korea. He said that Koreans, including perceived enemies like Kim Jong-Il, really do want positive change, and that a change in attitude would prove very helpful.
"Koreans are Koreans. They've been separated from their southern brothers for quite some time, but they've been one people for thousands of years," said Gregg.
"We simply have to be seen as having a policy and not an attitude."
According to Gregg, the sooner the U.S. changes its policy, the more beneficial it will be. "The price for getting North Korea to give up its nuclear policy will only continue to go up," he warned.
Gregg served as ambassador in South Korea under the first Bush administration, from 1989 to 1993, and has a long history of experience in Asian affairs.
He served for over 25 years in the Central Intelligence Agency, working in Japan, Burma, Korea, and Vietnam; in the `80s, under the Reagan administration, he served as chief of Asian policy affairs for the National Security Council.
More recently, Gregg has worked as the president and chairman of the Korea Society, a non-profit organization that is dedicated solely to the promotion of greater awareness and better cooperation between the people of the United States and Korea.
