HONOLULU -- A recent visit by South Korean President-elect Roh Moo Hyun's foreign-policy transition team reveals that the incoming administration's policy toward North Korea is still very much in the formative stage. As a longtime student of Korean security affairs, allow me to offer South Korea's incoming leader a few humble words of advice.
First, take immediate, positive steps to reaffirm the South Korean-U.S. security alliance. You (like myself) are a firm supporter of the "sunshine policy." Its first principle is that North Korean aggressive behavior will not be tolerated. This requires a strong, credible deterrent, best provided through an unequivocal reaffirmation of the U.S.-South Korean alliance relationship.
Second, make it clear exactly where South Korea stands on the nuclear issue. Pyongyang has been claiming that the current standoff pits the Korean people (North and South) against the United States. It must be firmly disabused of this notion. We are treaty allies. For 50 years, America has stated that an attack on South Korea is an attack on the U.S.; the reverse is also true. Neutrality is not an option. Pyongyang needs to understand this; so do the Korean people.