HONOLULU -- The U.S. presidential election is finally over! Now the hard part begins. I'm not talking about getting North Korea back to the negotiating table; that will come soon enough. Now that Pyongyang knows it has no choice but to deal with the Bush administration, it will find a way to resume the six-party talks, after squeezing out as many concessions and rewards as it can manage.
I'm talking about the more important task of repairing damaged U.S.-South Korean relations, which have deteriorated significantly during President George W. Bush's first term in office. Many in South Korea (and elsewhere) were hoping for a quick fix -- a "regime change" in Washington. No such luck! It's now up to Washington and Seoul to find ways to repair damaged ties, or at least stop making things worse.
The first steps must come from the top. South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun and Bush will meet at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders Meeting later this month in Santiago, Chile. The two should issue a joint statement reaffirming the centrality of the South Korea-U.S. security alliance. They need to express their determination to achieve a peaceful solution to the current North Korea-induced nuclear crisis, jointly calling on Pyongyang to respond positively to the "constructive offer" that Washington put on the table at the last six-party meeting.