Clinton, North Korea, and Foreign Policy
Bill Clinton's Visit May Change US Relations with North Korea
Sep 27, 2009
North Korea would not have accepted anyone less than a charismatic, former president. In the months since North Korea has abandoned the Six-Party Talks – which include the United States, China, Russia, Japan, and South Korea – North Korea has sought to engage the US bilaterally. Regarding this potential engagement, the US has consistently held fast to its demands that North Korea retire its demands for bilateral negotiations and instead return to the Six-Party Talks. However, former President Bill Clinton’s visit with the eccentric dictator Kim Jung-Il may alter the rhetoric from Washington, DC.
A Personal Request with Diplomatic Undertones
Clinton met with Kim Jung-Il to discuss the release of two American journalists that had been sentenced to 12-years of hard labor for sneaking into North Korea. Although this was submitted as a personal request, Clinton’s status as a former, and rather popular, US president, as well as husband to the current Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, opened the door for speculation: is the White House going to change its policy toward North Korea?
The White House claims that it had no involvement in the meeting between Kim Jung-Il and former President Clinton. Even if this proves to be the case, the White House cannot ignore the fallout from the meeting. North Korea is known for being a secretive, almost impregnable country, and it is unlikely that the borders would have been opened for anyone less than a high level government official, and certainly a former president meets that criteria. The fact that a former president held such a controversial meeting means that the White House must now tread exceedingly carefully in its dealings with North Korea.
The Implications
One of the most crucial implications of the Clinton visit is that is could signal a thaw in the US refusal to meet bilaterally with the communist state. Even though this visit was not a diplomatic one, the image of Clinton sitting side-by-side with Kim Jung-Il will be seen globally, and carries the connotation that the US is willing to begin bilateral dialogues. This implication may well damage efforts to breathe new life into the Six-Party Talks.
Of the other countries participating in the talks, Japan is most likely to be concerned with the fallout of the visit, as it has been relying on the Six-Party Talks to leverage the North Korean denuclearization issue in order to resolve its own conflict with North Korea regarding the abduction of several Japanese citizens. Clinton’s visit may also give Kim Jung-Il reason to believe that the US is weakening. Consequently, the bellicose rhetoric that has emanated from North Korea in the past may resurface if the US continues to deny bilateral negotiating privileges.
Perhaps the most likely immediate outcome from the visit will be the increasing involvement of Bill Clinton in foreign policy as a sort of cultural or goodwill ambassador. Certainly, the former president is at liberty to pursue his own goals, however when those goals involve sensitive matters of the state, the White House may do well to either include him or risk conflicting signals coming from Washington.
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