We recently had the pleasure of hosting Sohn Hak-kyu at UCSD, where he gave a public lecture on “Changing Dynamics in East Asia and Korean Politics.” Sohn began his political career as a student activist, got his PhD from Oxford and taught at Inha and Sogang Universities. He served in the National Assembly for four terms as well as in Kim Young-Sam’s cabinet. He also served as a highly-successful governor of Gyeonggi province and chairman of the Democratic Party, pursuing the presidential nomination of the party twice.
In his public lecture at UCSD, Sohn restates the case for engagement, arguing that the Park administration and the US should exploit the current North Korean opening. Placing these developments in the wider geo-strategic environment, Sohn warns against the risk that South Korea will get caught in a new cold war in Northeast Asia between the US and China. Taking the initiative vis-à-vis North Korea is a way to mitigate this risk, and should be focused on de facto vs. de jure integration and unification between North and South. He argues that the success of such an effort will ultimately depend on the US, and notes the anomalous nature of US-North Korean relations. Sohn believes that the US should actually normalize relations with North Korea early in the process of re-engagement, and that this could serve as the foundation for progress on the nuclear issue.
In subsequent conversations, I noted that such a move was unlikely; nonetheless, he argued that parallel negotiations—North-South, Six Party, for a peace regime, and bilaterally with the US—were more likely to advance peace and security in Northeast Asia than holding out for preconditions that are unlikely to be met. In sum, Sohn offers a thoughtful update to the underlying logic of engagement articulated by Kim Dae Jung, a vision he believes the DP should continue to embrace.
