SEOUL -- The stage was set for a summit showdown when U.S. President George W. Bush arrived in Seoul last week, and it did not disappoint. At stake was not only the future of Kim Dae Jung's "sunshine policy" of engagement with North Korea -- which is highly dependent on the resumption of talks between the United States and the North -- but also the solidity of the U.S.-South Korean alliance.
While the alliance survived the ordeal intact at the official level, Bush, rather than salvage the sunshine policy, unleashed another State of the Union-sized salvo toward Pyongyang. To be sure, the words were different, but the voice and refrain were the same: "We can't let the world's most dangerous regimes threaten us with the world's most dangerous weapons." The words played directly into the hands of hawks in both Koreas.
In Seoul, Bush faced a twofold task; repairing the breach with the South and laying the groundwork for a resumption of dialogue with the North. The problem is that the two tracks intersect, and the two governments have different takes on how to effectively engage the North. Pledging not to invade North Korea is a nonissue, as the armistice precludes it and realpolitik prevents it. Pledging to engage North Korea, on the other hand, went virtually unaddressed.