It Makes a Difference to the Sheep

HAS THE U.S AGREED TO GIVING A PACKAGE DEAL (INCLUDING SECURITY ASSURANCES) TO NORTH KOREA? That's what the Korea Herald is quoting U.S. Ambassador Thomas Hubbard as saying.

"Washington will guarantee North Korea's safety if Pyongyang publicize clearly its intention of discarding nuclear ambitions through a written security proposal in the frame of the six-party talks," U.S. Amb. Thomas Hubbard was quoted as saying in a meeting with Rep. Kim Geun-tae, floor leader of the newly created pro-Roh Moo-hyun party.

The scuttlebutt around town here is that this is yet another case of the ROK trying to push the issue by declaring the Americans to be more willing to deal than they actually are. There also are, obviously, issues of translation and interpretation. Local DC sources also note that the same Korean report has Hubbard saying the following:

On South Korea's alleged anti-U.S. sentiment, the top U.S. diplomat expressed his understanding, by saying "I see it as opposition to policies of the Bush administration rather than to the United States itself."

He added, "Even in the United States, 45 to 50 percentage of the people are against the policies of the Bush government."

This does not, they argue, sound like what a political appointee would say about the man who appointed him (no matter how true it may be).