Embassy of the United States

Thank you, President Park, for that very warm introduction.  Distinguished members and friends of the Korea America Friendship Society, Lisa and I are pleased that you have invited us to celebrate this event with you, now for the second year in a row.  The December holiday season is a time traditionally spent with family and friends, and we are very thankful to be here among good friends tonight.

When Lisa and I arrived in Korea last year, we didn’t really know what to expect since it was our first time living in this country, and indeed, our first assignment to Asia.  Since then we’ve met Koreans from all walks of life – artists, musicians, students, educators, government officials and entrepreneurs – and we continue to meet fascinating Koreans on a daily basis. 

Developing these personal and professional relationships is one of nice things about being the U.S. Ambassador to Korea.  For Lisa and me, it is exciting to be living and working in a country that is not only leading the world in the development and application of the latest information technologies, but is also on the cutting edge in art, music, television, and cinema.  As a professional diplomat, I find it especially interesting to be serving in Korea at a time when the U.S.-ROK alliance is going through a period of fascinating and unprecedented change.

Successfully maintaining and developing our relationship is not without its challenges, but I think the ties between our two countries will only emerge stronger from the effort.  If the U.S.-Korean relationship were rigid and one-dimensional, we could expect problems adjusting to changes in our societies and in the world as a whole.  Our relationship, however, is based on varied and diverse ties, including:  

• a strong military alliance – one that is changing with the times and becoming a more balanced partnership, as well as a force for peace well beyond the confines of the Korean Peninsula;  
  
  
• growing personal and cultural bonds between Koreans and Americans, including the nearly two million Korean-Americans in the United States, and with 87,000 Korean students now attending university or high school in the U.S.; 
  
  
• robust trade links, which we hope to enhance even further with the negotiation of a Free Trade Agreement; and, 
  
  
• most important of all, a shared commitment to the values of democracy, human rights and freedom. 

These multiple connections give our relationship its special character, and keep our alliance dynamic and strong.  These connections, and the warmth of the Korean people, help make Americans who are living here in the Republic of Korea feel very much at home.  And I say this despite the language barrier and the occasional challenge of eating a live octopus (or, more precisely, avoiding that challenge).

Our two countries were brought together, as never before, by the Korean War and the need to defend our hard-won freedom against the North Korean threat.  Unfortunately, that threat remains – and indeed became even more serious with North Korea’s detonation of a nuclear device on October 9.  I am pleased that our two countries have come together in recent weeks in making clear to the North that we will not tolerate a nuclear-armed North Korea. 

And we do not stand alone.  The United Nations Security Council expressed the world’s outrage through Resolution 1718, adopted unanimously five days after the test.  This resolution requires that all countries deny North Korea the materials or financing for its missile or nuclear programs until Pyongyang’s leaders change course and fulfill their previous commitments to abandon their nuclear programs.

The benefits to North Korea of denuclearization are clear:  acceptance into the international community; security assurances; economic and energy assistance; and a peace regime for the Korean Peninsula that would end the state of war and the military tensions that have persisted more than 50 years after the Korean War.   This path – full implementation of the Joint Statement adopted last September in the Six Party Talks – is the one we hope the North Korean leaders choose to follow.  It’s the past that leads to real peace and reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula and greater security and prosperity for all of Northeast Asia.  The alternative for North Korea is increasing isolation, more sanctions and economic stagnation, as well as further hardships for the North Korean people.

It is not yet clear whether North Korean leaders are ready to make the right choice and give up their nuclear weapons.  But it is encouraging that, faced with a united international community and a strong U.S.-Korean alliance, they are ready to return to the Six Party Talks. 

As you know, Assistant Secretary Christopher Hill spent several days last week in Beijing holding bilateral and trilateral meetings aimed at laying the groundwork for a successful resumption of the Talks.   In the aftermath of North Korea’s nuclear test, it is all the more urgent that the North Koreans take early, concrete steps toward dismantling their nuclear programs.  We need to see action, not just words, when the talks resume, and we are working closely with Korea, China, and our other partners to achieve this goal.  

This is supposed to be a festive occasion, so I’ll spare you a briefing on other serious issues in our relationship, such as the FTA negotiations, the transfer of wartime operational control, or – one of my favorite subjects – getting Korea into the Visa Waiver Program.  

My bottom line this evening is this:  Fifty years ago the United States and Korea embarked on a common journey to face a common enemy.  Since that time our relationship has broadened and deepened.  No longer are we simply bound together by a common history or a common enemy.  Today we are united by an ever-widening set of values – values that have transformed an important alliance into a true partnership between friends.  In this holiday season of reflection and thanksgiving, we thank the Korea America Friendship Society and all its members for your friendship and for your efforts to strengthen the U.S.-Korea alliance. May our friendship grow even closer in the New Year, and our shared future even brighter.

Thank you.