In Pursuit of Democratization and Engagement

Lee, Chae-Jin

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-30500-0_6

In Pursuit of Democratization and Engagement

Chae-Jin Lee⁴

Chapter
First Online: 14 November 2019

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Part of the book series: The Evolving American Presidency ((EAP))

Abstract

This chapter discusses the way the Reagan administration navigated the landmines of struggles for political democracy in South Korea in 1987. George Shultz and Gaston Sigur spearheaded Reagan’s policy to support the popular movement for freedom and democracy. They welcomed Roh Tae Woo’s announcement for dramatic democratic initiatives on June 29, 1987. Even though the heroic struggles of South Korean people were primarily responsible for this historic turning point for democracy, the Reagan administration’s patient, active, and supportive role was no less crucial. Once an important step for South Korea’s democratization was consummated, the Reagan administration took a modest initiative for engagement with North Korea and began the Beijing Talks between American and North Korean political counselors in 1988.

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Notes

1.
Quoted in Department of State Bulletin, April 1984, 16.
2.
For Reagan’s speech at UN, see ibid., November 1984, 1–5.
3.
See Matlock’s comment in Bradley Lynn Coleman and Kyle Langley, eds., Reagan and the World: Leadership and National Security, 1981–1989 (Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky, 2017), x.
4.
For the text of his second inaugural address on January 21, 1985, see “The Public Papers of Ronald Reagan,” The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
5.
See the text of Shultz’s speech in Department of State Bulletin, April 1984, 15–19.
6.
The report (March 14, 1986), “Freedom, Regional Security and Global Peace,” was reprinted in “Reagan’s Foreign Policy,” Korea National Diplomatic Archives (hereafter KNDA), 1986, 21,366: 948–956.
7.
Shultz’s press conference on March 14, 1986, was reported in ibid., 21,366: 029–033.
8.
The text of Shultz’s Landon lecture on April 14, 1986, was included in ibid., 21,366: 080–100. The Alfred M. Landon Lecture Series on Public Issues was set up in honor of former Kansas Governor Landon who had unsuccessfully run against President Franklin Roosevelt in 1936. On August 9, 1982 Reagan, too, spoke at the lecture series.
9.
See Sigur’s testimony (April 16, 1986) in Department of State Bulletin, July 1986, 46–48.
10.
The text of Chong-Sik Lee’s statement (April 16, 1986), “The Political Development in South Korea and U.S. Policy,” is available in “Korea Hearings,” KNDA, 1986, 21,519: 140–147. His view was reconfirmed in author’s conversation with Chong-Sik Lee, July 2018.
11.
For the texts of Edward Baker’s and Richard Allen’s statements, see ibid., 21,519: 095–106 and 111–139.
12.
See a confidential internal report, ibid., 21,519: 162.
13.
See the confidential report issued on March 10, 1986, in The 1987 Democratization Movement in Retrospective: A Critical Oral History, Briefing Book II (1986) (published in Seoul by The National Museum of Korean Contemporary History and The Wilson Center, 2017), 41–46.
14.
See John Kerry’s speech on April 30, 1986, in Korea and the United States Congress: 1945–2000 (Washington, DC: The Korean Embassy in the United States, 2001), 1118–1120.
15.
The text of Sigur’s statement is in “Reagan’s Foreign Policy,” KNDA, 1986, 21,366: 149–161.
16.
James Mann, The Rebellion of Ronald Reagan: A History of the End of the Cold War (New York: Penguin Group, 2009), 127.
17.
Lilley’s interviews in March and October 1998 and January and April 1999 for Foreign Affairs Oral History Project, Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (hereafter ADST), Library of Congress.
18.
Author’s conversation with Young C. Kim, September 2017.
19.
George Schultz, Turmoil and Triumph (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1993), 978–979. For an excellent report on the Inchon riot, see Lee Che Ju, Unron tongjae wa sinmun ui jehang [Press Suppression and Newspaper’s Resistance] (Seoul: Nanam chulpansa, 2003), 394–412.
20.
For an extensive 38-part report “Assessment of Korean Internal Political Scene on the Eve of Secretary Shultz’s Visit” filed by Walker on April 25, 1986, see The 1987 Korean Democratization Movement,” Briefing Book II (1986), 64–88. Also see Shultz, Turmoil and Triumph, 978. In his memoirs, Shultz referred to Lilley, but he meant Walker because Lilley was not yet in Seoul.
21.
See “Memorandum of Conversation” between Shultz and Lee Won Kyung on May 7, 1986, in “Shultz’s Visit to Korea 1986” (declassified diplomatic document: KNDA), 1986, 21,578: 102–122.
22.
“Memorandum of Conversation” between Shultz and Chun Doo Hwan on May 8, 1986, in ibid., 21,578: 154–160.
23.
Shultz, Turmoil and Triumph, 980.
24.
Shultz’s press conference at Chosun Hotel on May 8, 1986, was reported in “Shultz’s Visit to Korea 1986,” 21,578: 176–181.
25.
As reported by the US Embassy in Seoul on May 13, 1986. See The 1987 Korean Democratization Movement in Retrospective, Briefing Book II (1986), 122–124.
26.
See David Lambertson’s report dated May 23, 1986, “Kim Dae Jung on Shultz’s Visit, Anti-Americanism and Political Prospects,” in ibid., Briefing Book II (1986), 142–150.
27.
Author’s communications with Quinones, November 2017 and January 2019.
28.
The Embassy statement on May 21, 1986, is in “USIS Incident in Pusan,” KNDA, 1986, 20,444: 012.
29.
The itemized bill is in ibid., 20,444: 023–026.
30.
On January 20, 1987, Yu Myung Hwan (director of the Division of North American Affairs and future foreign minister) and First Secretary John Miller of the US Embassy in Seoul had a constructive discussion. It was recorded in ibid., 20,444: 057–059. Author’s conversations with Yu Myung Hwan in October 2018 and March 2019.
31.
For an extensive report on the demonstrations, see Lee Che Ju, Press Suppression and Newspaper’s Resistance, 428–429.
32.
The details of the ANSP’s planning and execution are revealed in Hanguk Ilbo, May 4, 2019.
33.
See “Memorandum of Conversation” between Lambertson and Chang on October 15, 1986, in “Arrest of an Opposition Member” (declassified diplomatic document: KNDA), 1986, 21,339: 010.
34.
Reported in Donga Ilbo, October 17, 1986.
35.
The texts of Udall’s and Clinton’s letters are in “Arrest of an Opposition Member,” 21,339: 091–092.
36.
The text of Kim Kyung Won’s response to Clinton on November 5, 1986, is in ibid., 21,339: 093–094.
37.
As recalled by Chang Tae Ik (whom Shultz had summoned to the State Department), in Chosun Ilbo, December 29, 2013.
38.
On April 13, 1987, the district court sentenced Yu Sung Hwan to one-year imprisonment. The Supreme Court exonerated him and restored his civil rights in 1993. The following year Yu was elected to the National Assembly again.
39.
The statement issued on January 16, 1987, is available in “Shultz’s Visit to Korea 1987,” KNDA, 1987, 21,614: 152.
40.
The letter dated February 11, 1987, is in ibid., 21,614: 153.
41.
See the cable dated January 22, 1987, “New Attitude on Torture: New Home Affairs Minister,” in The 1987 Korean Democratization Movement in Retrospective, Briefing Book III (1987), 1–9. Born in Qingdao, Lilley spent his first 12 years in China. Upon graduation from Yale University, he entered the CIA in 1951. He saw Korea in 1953 for the first time and went there again 31 years later. He served in eight US Embassies and missions abroad as well as in Washington. He was the CIA station chief in Beijing, a staff at the National Security Council, and director of the American Institute in Taiwan. He served as deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (1984–1986) before he became ambassador to South Korea. Author’s interviews with Lilley, December 1995 and May 2004.
42.
See the text of Sigur’s address on “Korean Politics in Transition” in Department of State Bulletin, April 1987, 19–21. Also see Edward W. Kloth’s interview in November 2008 for Foreign Affairs Oral History Project, ADST.
43.
For Shultz’s and Sigur’s meeting with Chun, see Sigur’s interviews in April and July 1990 for Foreign Affairs Oral History Project, ADST.
44.
See “Secretary’s Meeting with ROK Foreign Minister Choi Kwang Soo—March 6, 1987,” in The 1987 Korean Democratization Movement in Retrospective, Briefing Book III (1987), 17–27. Educated at Seoul National University and Georgetown University, Choi Kwang Soo, a career diplomat with photographic memory and superior intelligence, served as ambassador to Saudi Arabia and the United Nations. Other positions he held included vice minister of national defense, presidential secretary general, and minister of communications. He was foreign minister from 1986 to 1988.
45.
See the text of Schifter’s statement on “The Human Rights Issue in Korea” before the Subcommittees on Asian and Pacific Affairs and on Human Rights and International Organizations of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on May 6, 1987, in Department of State Bulletin, August 1987, 77–78.
46.
Kim Kyung Won’s cable to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on May 9, 1987, was reported in Chungang Ilbo, March 30, 2018.
47.
See Cleveland’s interview in October 1966 for Foreign Affairs Oral History Project, ADST. and Dunlop’s interviews in July, September, October, and November 1996 for Foreign Affairs Oral History Project, ADST.
48.
Author’s interviews with Lilley in December 1995 and May 2004.
49.
Reported in Hanguk Ilbo, June 9, 1987.
50.
Edward Kloth’s interview in November 2008 for Foreign Affairs Oral History Project, ADST.
51.
Reported in Lee Yun Sup, Hanguk ul duihundun sibil: Yuwol hangjaeng [Ten Days that Shook Korea: The June Resistance] (Goyangsi: ebookspub, 2013). Lee does not reveal his sources for this report. In view of the CIA’s extensive involvement in South Korean politics, the report is plausible, but there is no corroborating evidence yet. In US diplomatic documents, Stein was identified as “Political Counselor” at the US Embassy in Seoul.
52.
Ibid.
53.
Author’s conversation with Kim Kyung Won, October 2002.
54.
Author’s interviews with Lilley in December 1995 and May 2004. In the evening of June 18, 1987, Yu Myung Hwan (director of the Division of North American Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) obtained a copy of Reagan’s letter from the US Embassy in Seoul. He submitted its summary to the Blue House prior to Chun’s meeting with Lilley in the early afternoon of June 19. See The 1987 Korean Democratization Movement in Retrospective: A Critical Oral History (Seoul: The National Museum of Korean Contemporary History, 2018), 122. Author’s conversations with Yu Myung Hwan in October 2018 and March 2019. It is known that several persons, including Gaston Sigur, James Kelly, and William Clark Jr., took part in drafting the Reagan letter.
55.
For the text of Reagan’s letter, see The 1987 Korean Democratization Movement in Retrospective, Briefing Book III (1987), 92–93. Also see Donald Oberdorfer and Robert Carlin, The Two Koreas: A Contemporary History (New York: Basic Books, 2014), 131–132.
56.
James Lilley with Jeffrey Lilley, China Hands: Nine Decades of Adventure, Espionage, and Diplomacy in Asia (New York: Public Affairs, 2004), 277–278.
57.
In his controversial memoirs, Chun Doo Hwan discusses his decision-making process. See Chun Doo Hwan, Hoegorok [Memoirs], vol. 2 (Pajusi: Chajak namusup, 2017), 635–636.
58.
Quoted in Sigur’s interviews in April and July 1990 for Foreign Affairs Oral History Project, ADST.
59.
See “Assistant Secretary Sigur’s Meeting with President Chun Doo Hwan” on June 24, 1987 (declassified diplomatic document: The Department of State).
60.
This quotation is provided by James Kelly who talked to Sigur after his meeting with Chun. See The 1987 Korean Democratization Movement in Retrospective, 112.
61.
See “A/SEC Sigur’s June 23 Calls on ROK Foreign Minister” and “ASES Sigur’s Meeting with KDJ: Current Status” (June 24, 1987) (declassified diplomatic documents: The Department of State). For a slightly different Korean version of “Memorandum of Conversation” between Sigur and Choi, see “Sigur’s Visit to Korea 1987” (declassified diplomatic document: KNDA), 1987, 19,890: 235–237.
62.
See The 1987 Korean Democratization Movement in Retrospective, 112.
63.
“Statement for ASEC Sigur’s June 25 Press Conference in Seoul” (declassified diplomatic document: The Department of State).
64.
Lilley and Lilley, China Hands, 280.
65.
See “Statement by A/S Sigur at White House, 6/26/87” (declassified diplomatic document: The Department of State).
66.
Donga Ilbo, June 30, 1987. For a good analysis, see Gregg Brazinsky, Nation Building in South Korea: Koreans, Americans, and the Making of Democracy (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2007), 248–250.
67.
Chun claims that he forced the reluctant Roh to issue the June 29 declaration. See Chun’s Memoirs, vol. 2, 629–641. However, Roh insisted that it was his own decision to make the declaration. Author’s conversation with Roh, August 1987. For a discussion of Chun’s and Roh’s decisions, see Chae-Jin Lee, A Troubled Peace: U.S. Policy and The Two Koreas (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006), 126–127.
68.
As discussed in Kim Dae Jung, Chaseojon [Memoirs] (Seoul: Samin, 2010), 512.
69.
See the text of Lilley’s cable to the State Department on June 30, 1987, in The 1987 Korean Democratization Movement in Retrospective, Briefing Book III (1987), 110–116.
70.
Lilley met Kim Dae Jung on July 8, 1987. See Lilley’s cable “Korean Domestic Politics: Problems and Opportunities after June 29” sent to the State Department on the same day in The 1987 Korean Democratization Movement in Retrospective, Briefing Book III (1987), 117–122.
71.
See a copy of Lilley’s report on July 7, 1987, in ibid., 148–155.
72.
See a memorandum “Meeting with the National Security Planning Group” prepared by NSA Frank C. Carlucci for Reagan in ibid., 159–164.
73.
A copy of Kelly’s memorandum dated September 4, 1987, is available in “James Kelly Files,” The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library (Simi Valley, CA).
74.
See Roh Tae Woo, Hoegorok [Memoirs] (Seoul: Chosun News Press, 2011), 359–360.
75.
A copy of “Memorandum of Conversation” between Reagan and Roh Tae Woo is in “James Kelly Files,” The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
76.
The Reagan Diaries, vol. 2, ed. Douglas Brinkley (New York, NY: Harper Collins, 2009), 772.
77.
See John Kie-chiang Oh and Bonnie Bongwan Cho Oh, The Korean Embassy in America (Elizabeth, NJ: Hollym International Corporation, 2003), 127.
78.
Edward Kloth’s interview in November 2008 for Foreign Affairs Oral History Project, ADST.
79.
See Department of State Bulletin, November 1987, 29–31.
80.
Author’s conversation with Choi Yong Chul (former vice speaker of the National Assembly and minister of national unification), May 2017.
81.
See “Assistant Secretary Sigur’s Meeting with President Chun” on September 15, 1987 (declassified diplomatic document: The Department of State).
82.
“ASEC Sigur’s Call on ROK DFMIN Chung: Don’t Worry; The Military Will Not Intervene” (declassified diplomatic document via FOIA: The Department of State).
83.
For Sigur’s meetings with Kim Young Sam and Kim Dae Jung, see “ASEC Sigur Meets the Two Kims” (declassified diplomatic document via FOIA: The Department of State).
84.
Lilley was pleased with his accurate report to the State Department. Author’s interviews with Lilley, December 1995 and May 2004.
85.
See a copy of Frank Carlucci’s letter to Lilley dated May 22, 1987, in The 1987 Korean Democratization Movement in Retrospective, Briefing Book III (1987), 90.
86.
Kim Dae Jung, Memoirs, 535–539.
87.
For US reactions to the election, see New York Times, December 20, 1987. Ari Fleischer on behalf of the White House welcomed the election result.
88.
Park Tong Jin, Kilun muledo ttutson hana [Long Road, but One Goal] (Seoul: Donga chulpansa, 1992), 167–172.
89.
A copy of Sigur’s letter to Park Tong Jin on February 21, 1989, ibid. While serving as foreign minister, Park expressed his disillusionment with the Carter administration in author’s interview with Park, June 1979.
90.
On April 5, 1988, the US Embassy in Seoul sent to the State Department the cable “ROKG ‘Apologizes’ for 1980 Kwangju Incident, but the Legacy Remains” (declassified diplomatic document via FOIA: The Department of State).
91.
Kim Dae Jung’s statement is cited in ibid.
92.
Sigur-Kim Sou Hwan meeting on April 3, 1988, reported in ibid.
93.
Lilley admitted that he had incorrectly predicted that the DJP would capture a majority of seats in the National Assembly. Author’s interviews with Lilley in December 1995 and May 2004.
94.
See Sigur’s address (May 12, 1988), “Elections in Korea,” before the Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs of the House Foreign Affairs Committee in Department of State Bulletin, July 1988, 32–33.
95.
Reagan met Shevardnadze on March 3, 1988. See Shultz, Turmoil and Triumph, 981.
96.
A confidential South Korean diplomatic document which was declassified in 2019 is cited in Chosun Ilbo, April 1, 2019. Kim Il Sung refused to let the Chinese athletes use North Korean railroads for going to Seoul.
97.
James Lilley, “Meeting with Roh Tae Woo, April 4” (declassified diplomatic document via FOIA: The Department of State).
98.
The National Assembly speaker hosted the breakfast meeting on July 18, 1988. It was the first time that Shultz met the “three Kims” as secretary of state. See a record of the meeting in “Shultz’s Visit to Korea,” KNDA, 1988, 19,818:154–162.
99.
See “Memorandum of Conversation” between Shultz and Choi Kwang Soo, ibid., 19,818: 176–183.
100.
“Luncheon for Secretary Shultz by President Roh, Tae Woo, July 18, 1988” (declassified diplomatic document via FOIA: The Department of State).
101.
“Secretary Shultz’s Departure Statement from Korea, July 18” and “Q&A after Secretary Shultz’s Speech at Korean Press Center” (declassified diplomatic documents via FOIA: The Department of State).
102.
Aloysius M. O’Neill’s interviews in August, September, and October 2008 for Foreign Affairs Oral History Project, ADST.
103.
For the subsequent unfolding of anti-Americanism, see an excellent and meticulous study by David Straub, Anti-Americanism in Democratizing South Korea (Stanford, CA: Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, 2015).
104.
See Lilley’s interviews in March and October 1998 and January and April 1999 for Foreign Affairs Diplomatic Oral History Project, ADST.
105.
Roh Tae Woo, “A Single National Community,” in Korea: A Nation Transformed (New York: Pergamon Press, 1990), 59–61. As minister of national unification, Lee Hong Koo (future prime minister and ambassador to the United States) played an important role in formulating Roh’s northern diplomacy. He studied at Seoul National University and received B.A. from Emory University and a PhD degree from Yale University. He taught at Seoul National University. Author’s interview with Lee Hong Koo, May 2018.
106.
“ROK President Roh’s Announcement of Revised Policy on Dealing with North Korea” (July 7, 1988) (declassified diplomatic document: The National Archives).
107.
Roh Tae Woo, “Dialogue for Peace,” in Korea: A Nation Transformed, 3–10. See the text of UN address by North Korea’s First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Suk Ju in “Roh’s Visit to US and UN” (a set of confidential diplomatic documents declassified in 2019), KNDA (1988), 32,374: 202–220.
108.
William Clark Jr. interview in January 1994 for Foreign Affairs Oral History Project, ADST.
109.
On the meeting between Shultz and Choi Kwang Soo on March 6, 1987, see “Shultz’s Visit to Korea 1987” (declassified diplomatic document: KNDA), 1987, 21,614: 062.
110.
Thomas P. M. Dunlop interviews in July, September, and October 1996 for Foreign Affairs Oral History Project, ADST.
111.
On the meeting between Reagan and Roh, see Roh Tae Woo, Memoirs, 453–455.
112.
The Reagan Diaries, vol. 2, 966.
113.
“Reagan Envisions Korea Troop Cut,” New York Times, October 21, 1988.
114.
“ROK President’s Visit: US Policy re N. Korea” (declassified diplomatic document: The Department of State, 1988).
115.
“Policy/Regulation Changes Regarding North Korea: Informing Seoul, Tokyo, Moscou [sic] and Beijing” (declassified diplomatic document: The Department of State, 1988).
116.
Department of State Bulletin, January 1989, 17.
117.
The ceremony took place on May 4, 1992, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Reagan and Gorbachev made brief statements. This author was invited to attend it, together with a group of his college students.
118.
Author’s communication with Burghardt, September 2017. A graduate of Columbia University, Burghardt became a career diplomat with emphasis on East and Southeast Asia. He was political counselor in Beijing (1987–1989) and DCM in Seoul (1990–1993). Later he served as consul general in Shanghai, director of the American Institute in Taiwan, and ambassador to Vietnam.
119.
For a discussion of the Beijing Talks, see Chae-Jin Lee, A Troubled Peace, 131–136.
120.
Author’s interview with a North Korean political counselor in Beijing, August 1989.

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Department of Government, Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, CA, USA
Chae-Jin Lee

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Lee, CJ. (2020). In Pursuit of Democratization and Engagement. In: Reagan Faces Korea. The Evolving American Presidency. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30500-0_6

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30500-0_6
Published: 14 November 2019
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