WASHINGTON -- The curtain has come down on the first act of the Bush administration's Asia policy, and there are far more questions than answers about U.S. policy after President Kim Dae Jung's visit to Washington. The media feasted on the mixed messages from a skeptical President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell and the gaps between Bush's and Kim's perspectives on North Korea. I suspect the widely reported policy differences may in the end be more questions of tactics and emphasis than of strategy and goals.
Kim's visit was a useful, if somewhat painful, exercise for both sides, part of a "search for consensus" in policy formulation for a government still in formation -- and of policy coordination among allies. For an administration that has yet to put its Asia team in place, it was not reasonable to expect a fully considered policy.
A careful look at what was actually said between the two leaders reveals more common ground than the media coverage would suggest. First, Bush is sincere and serious about wanting to bolster ties to U.S. allies, as he said repeatedly in their joint press conference and statement. Bush opened the conference with praise for Kim's "leadership in terms of reaching out to the North Koreans," adding that Kim's "vision of peace" is "a goal we share."