Speeches and Transcripts

Café USA Interview with Ambassador Vershbow

Alexander Vershbow
U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea

Habib House - July 11, 2008

Q: Good morning, sir.  Welcome to the Café USA Interview.  As you know, this is our third time having you here, and already nine months have passed since you conducted the last one.

AMB Vershbow: It’s much too long.

Q: Time flies.  Well, it’s great to have you back in Café USA, and especially in this hospitable, cozy and relaxing atmosphere.  So would you briefly introduce us to Habib House, your Residence?

AMB Vershbow: I’m very glad to be able to do another interview for all of our friends who are followers of Café USA.  And this is the first time we’ve done it here at our Residence, Habib House.  We’re in the room called the Music Room where we have a piano and we’re surrounded by contemporary American art.  The house, as people may know, was built in the 1970s, and the idea to make this house Korean-style rather than American-style was Phillip Habib’s, one of our greatest diplomats, who was Ambassador to Korea in the early Seventies.  It was designed by Korean architects, with a little help from American engineers, and it’s really a marvelous place, both to see, but also to live in.  It’s a very comfortable house, and we like to be living in a hanok (한옥), and we’ll very much miss this place when we leave in September.

Q: Thank you.  Let’s now move on to the real questions.

AMB Vershbow: Okay.

Q: We’ve received lots of interesting and quality questions from our Café USA members.  Also some questions were sent to us by the DRS members of the Information Resource Center (IRC) and the IRC blog.  First, this is a question by a person with an ID MOTOWN.  MOTOWN was wondering if you have seen the movie Crossing.  This is a movie that dealt with North Korean human rights issues, and it vividly showed the miserable reality of North Korean defectors.  So, if you have seen the movie, please share with us your impression of the movie.

AMB Vershbow: I did have an opportunity recently to see the movie.  And I have to say it’s one of the most powerful and one of the saddest movies I’ve seen, because it really does bring home the difficult human rights conditions in North Korea: the poverty, the starvation, the concentration camps, and the dehumanizing nature of life under the North Korean system.  It shows also the desperation that drives many North Koreans to seek to flee their country, to go into China in the hopes of reaching South Korea, but often encountering terrible difficulties in their path.  So it’s a very tragic movie, but I think it’s one of the first movies that really brings home the harsh reality of North Korea, and I hope many people will get to see this movie.

Q: Thank you.  Another question from MOTOWN.  He asked what you think about the food aid to North Korea relating to this movie.  This person was a bit dubious whether the food aid and monetary assistance are actually sent to the people in hunger.  He was wondering how the U.S. is providing humanitarian assistance to North Korea.

AMB Vershbow: Well, I think that from all the information that we have, and it’s not perfect information, the situation in North Korea this year is worse than ever when it comes to the food supply.  Between the chronic inefficiencies of their economic system, plus the floods last year, it’s clear that there’s going to be huge shortages of food and many of the people in the North are living on the brink of starvation. 

So, my government -- and I know the Korean government -- has always viewed humanitarian aid as something that should not be linked to politics.  But, it is important that there be an effective system to verify that the food that we provide as a humanitarian gesture does, in fact, reach the people who are in need.  It was very difficult for us to negotiate these kinds of arrangements with the North Koreans because they are very unwilling to offer very much transparency or access into their country.  But we were very patient and persistent, and we did achieve an agreement that provides really unprecedented access, and ‘unprecedented’ means to check the distribution of the food.  We’re allowed to send in large numbers of monitors, including Korean-speaking ones who can do the job effectively, to check the ports, the storage sites, the distribution centers, and even to go to the towns where the food is being sent to make sure that it is actually reaching the communities and the individuals in need. 

So one can never have one hundred percent assurance that some of the food may (not) ultimately find its way to the military or others who are less needy, but we think we have as strong a set of safeguards as possible, and hopefully the North Korean people will avoid total starvation, thanks to our aid.  But I’d also say it’s sad that North Korea has declined the offer from South Korea to provide 50,000 tons of corn, which was offered unconditionally.  I think it’s a sad reflection of the fact that issues that we try to separate from politics are still politicized by the North Korean government.  But hopefully that’s a temporary problem.

Q: Okay.  Continuing with the question related to North Korea, and since the Six-Party Talks are now being held in Beijing, let’s move on to this question.  A person with an ID 오래된 선풍기 (Old Fan) seems to be curious about how the denuclearization process is going along.  And are you receiving positive feedback from the negotiators?

AMB Vershbow: Well, we are speaking as the talks are literally in progress in Beijing.  And I think that the first reports that we’re receiving from Assistant Secretary Hill and his team are encouraging.  Right now we’re trying to complete what’s called Phase Two of the process, and this is already six months behind schedule, so we’re a little disappointed that the pace has been slowed.  But as you know, a few weeks ago, the North Koreans did finally provide the declaration of their nuclear programs, and the immediate task is to establish a system for verifying that declaration over the coming weeks. 

As Ambassador Hill announced, there is already agreement on some basic principles, but the task in the next few days is to negotiate a detailed verification protocol that will give us access to the facilities, to some of the scientists so we can interview them, perhaps to get more documents beyond the ones that we’ve received, so that we can be sure that the declaration that we now have is complete and correct. 

At the same time, this is the start of Phase Three.  Even as Phase Two is wrapped up, we want to get moving fast into Phase Three, when we’re actually going to be seeking the complete elimination of the North’s nuclear weapons, materials, and programs.  This isn’t going to be easy.  All kinds of complex challenges lie ahead.  But we do have some momentum now and we’re going to try to do as much as we can over the next few months so that we can at least set in motion a process of full denuclearization before President Bush leaves office.

Q: Thank you.  Let’s now have questions related to the economy.  Another question by 오래된 선풍기 (Old Fan).  As you know, oil prices are soaring worldwide, and this is not an exception to South Korea.  How are the oil prices in the United States, not to mention the oil taxes?  Can you compare them with Korea for us?

AMB Vershbow: Well, Americans pay the same price for oil as everyone else in the world, because it’s a global market, and it is indeed quite disturbing to see the oil price continue to rise.  It reached as high as $146 dollars a barrel, and this is leading to rising costs for gasoline and other petroleum products in the United States.  Our taxes on gasoline are somewhat lower than in Korea.  Between taxes applied by the states and taxes by the federal government, it comes to a little less than 50 cents per gallon, which is something like 15 cents per liter.  But still, for Americans, the price of a gallon of gasoline has passed $4 dollars, and it is already leading to some significant changes in driving habits.  People are driving at least 5 or 10 percent less, and they are suddenly looking at much more fuel-efficient cars.  I saw that some of our carmakers are already deciding to stop building SUVs and to produce more small cars.

So it’s a difficult situation, and it is going to have a spill-over effect on other sectors of our economy, just as it’s affecting other parts of the Korean economy.  I think it underscores the importance of conservation and fuel economy.  But over the longer term, developing new energy technologies that enable us to reduce our reliance on oil and --  whether it’s available technologies like hybrid cars, or futuristic technologies like electric cars, hydrogen cars -- hopefully this is a wake-up call for all of us that our previous assumptions about having cheap oil are now a thing of the past.

Q: Then how about the KORUS FTA in general?  How is it going?  ID 비행소녀 (Pilot Girl) asks.

AMB Vershbow: Well, we are of course now, in both countries, trying to ratify the FTA, which was signed more than a year ago and remains an excellent agreement for both countries.  It will really boost trade and investment substantially and give a real boost to both of our economies at a time when we really need it.  The beef crisis here in Korea has obviously complicated the situation and I think it slowed a bit of the momentum for ratification of the FTA in both countries.  But President Bush recently met with President Lee in Hokkaido and repeated his previous pledges to work as hard as he can to get the FTA ratified by the Congress this year.  As you know, it’s an election year in the United States, so it’s especially complicated for us.  But Congress is still working this month and will be working again for at least some weeks in the fall.  So we are going to do everything we can to get it ratified.  I think that there’s still strong support on the part of the business community.  So it’s not going to be simple, but we’re going to do as much as we can.  We certainly hope that, now that the National Assembly is working again in Korea, they will ratify the FTA relatively soon, and I think that will send a positive message to our Congress about Korea’s commitment to open its markets and to establish a level playing field for foreign companies, and that it’s time for the United States to do its part to fulfill its side of the FTA.

Q: Now since you’ve briefly mentioned U.S. beef, we would like to hear from you your opinion on U.S. beef.  이훈희 (Lee Hoon-hee) posed this question.  This person wonders what your stance is on the ongoing U.S. beef candlelight vigils from Korean protestors.  As you may have seen in the press, lots of people were hurt and many police buses were damaged.  What was your reaction when you saw container barricades blocking the streets?  Did you think it was an appropriate measure or a countermeasure that violated freedom of expression and human rights?

AMB Vershbow: Well, I think that certainly in a democratic society, freedom of expression is a fundamental principle, and in that sense, candlelight vigils and protests are legitimate action.  I think that Secretary Rice put it fairly well when she was here in Korea a few weeks ago when she said that, “A noisy democracy is certainly better than a quiet dictatorship.”  But of course, I think it’s also important that these kinds of protests be non-violent, and it’s sad to see that there was an escalation of violence a few weeks ago, which I hope is over, because I think that it’s important to have a reasoned debate about these kinds of issues.

I have to say that from an American point of view, some of the slogans that the protestors were carrying on their signs were very discouraging, because they were based on inaccurate or even totally false information about the safety of American beef. And some of this, as is now being documented in the press, was based on false or exaggerated information on some of your major TV networks, which I think created a panic among people that was not really based on any objective reality. 

As we’ve said many times, American beef is safe.  We’ve done an enormous amount of work over the past years to eliminate the risk of mad cow disease in our cattle, and to take multiple steps to ensure that the beef that we put on our own tables and the beef that we export to other countries is absolutely safe.  And I think that the record shows that there has not been a single case of a human being contracting mad cow disease from eating American beef -- either in America or overseas.  So hopefully, people are beginning to move forward on this issue, and hopefully some of the emotions that have surrounded this issue will die down.

Again, freedom to protest is a fundamental right, and even though it has made it a little harder for my wife and me to take our weekend strolls at Seoul Plaza or along the Cheonggyecheon (청계천).  I think it’s still a sign of the healthy democratic process that exists in Korea. 

I should add that people were worried that it might threaten the U.S.-Korean relationship.  But I think that this whole experience, while difficult, showed the strength of our alliance, because we were able to work out a solution that addressed the public concerns.  Even if those concerns, in our view, may have been exaggerated, they were real.  We took those concerns very seriously, and we worked with the Korean side to come up with some additional measures to restore consumer confidence and enable people to feel comfortable with the arrival of U.S. beef on the Korean market.

Q: Thank you for sharing with us your information on U.S. beef.  As you can imagine, we received lots of questions (about U.S. beef) from Café USA, and I hope this, your answer, will relieve, somewhat, their concerns.

AMB Vershbow: I’ve had a steady diet of beef as the Ambassador, but we still enjoy eating American beef ourselves here at the Residence.  And I was very pleased to see that senior medical authorities from Korea got together two days ago to show that, from their professional perspective, there was no risk in eating American beef.  I hope that reassures Korean consumers.

Q: Thank you.  Now, the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) was also one of the key topics Café USA members raised.  They were wondering when the VWP will take effect and especially 하원진 (Ha Won-jin) said that getting a U.S. visa is still a complicated procedure and a difficult task for him.  So he seems to be waiting for the VWP to take effect soon.  Could you give us some concrete details on the program and your opinion on this?

AMB Vershbow: I am optimistic that we’re making steady progress toward Korea’s entry into the Visa Waiver Program, and I hope that it will happen before the end of this year, and if not, within the first weeks of 2009.  Our two governments have been working very closely together.  At the Camp David Summit, there was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on Korea’s entry into the program.  Korea is doing its part to introduce e-passports for Korean travelers.  I think they’ll be available to the general public by the end of August. 

On the U.S. side, we’re actively putting into place some of the systems that our Congress has asked us to establish: (the first) is to establish an Electronic System for Travel Authorization so that people traveling without visas will be able to submit the basic data from their passports a few days in advance so that they can be cleared for entry without any problem.  We’re also putting into place what is called an “exit control system,” since right now we don’t actually monitor the departure of people from the United States as effectively as Congress wants, so we have to do that by the end of this year.  But I think that the cooperation is very good, and there is light at the end of the tunnel for Korean travelers. 

In the meantime, we do everything we can at the Embassy to make the process of getting a visa as painless as possible.  It is hard to avoid the lines because of the high numbers of applications that we receive.  But we do everything we can to move people as quickly as possible and to treat people as courteously as possible, and we do approve roughly 95 percent of all applications.  Even after the Visa Waiver Program arrives, some people will still need visas: full-time students, people going to reside in the United States as businessmen, other categories of exchangees.  But our estimate is that we’ll reduce our workload by 60 to 65 percent, so I think the lines that are so frustrating for me, as well as for the applicants, will hopefully disappear.

Q: Thank you.  Next, lots of people expressed their sadness to hear that you’ll be leaving Korea soon.  They were curious about what your plan is after your term in Korea - whether you would pursue a political career with your profound and long experience as a diplomat or go on with the Foreign Service.  They were also wondering if the next designated Ambassador will take office right after your term ends.

AMB Vershbow: Well, it is with great sadness that my wife and I will be leaving Korea in the second half of September after finishing our three-year assignment.  We’ve certainly had a great time here and found the work very interesting, the culture always fascinating, and the people among the most lively and engaging that we’ve met anywhere in the world.  But it is time for me to move on and my plan is, after 31 years in the Foreign Service, to retire and move on to a second career.  I’m still considering different possibilities, including possibly taking a position at one of the think tanks in Washington, perhaps doing a little part-time teaching, and perhaps a little part-time business consulting. 

But whatever I do, I’m looking forward to staying involved in Korean affairs and in U.S.-Korean relations, because I think this is one of the most exciting relationships the United States has, and we still have a lot of work to do.  We have to get the FTA into effect, we have to continue to work together on North Korea, and we have to continue to strengthen our alliance.  I hope that from the sidelines, rather than from inside the government, I can continue to contribute. 

But we’re looking forward to moving back to the States.  We have been overseas for 11 years and feel a little disconnected from our family and friends, so I think that was one factor why we’ve decided that it is time to try something a little different. 

You mentioned my successor.  We are hopeful that Kathleen Stephens, whom the President nominated several months ago to succeed me here, will be confirmed by the Senate and that she will be able to get here within a week or two of my departure.  She is a great professional with a distinguished career and she has much more experience in Korea than I have or had when I arrived here, having served three times -- once in the Peace Corps and twice as a diplomat.  There have been some complications with her confirmation process, but I know that the State Department is working very hard along with the White House to resolve those difficulties so that she can get here and take up her duties in the fall.

Q: It is definitely too soon to say goodbye to you, but we will definitely miss you.  And we will look forward to seeing you offline and online.

AMB Vershbow: I might be still willing to do a web chat from time to time….

Q: We will invite you.

AMB Vershbow: We can do it by long distance.

Q: Another interesting question from a person with an ID Hubin.  If you were reassigned as a U.S. Ambassador to Korea, what would your reaction be to the offer?  Would you willingly say yes or decline the request?  I think this somewhat relates to your impression of Korea in general.

AMB Vershbow: I think that if, a few years down the road, I had the opportunity to do this job again, I very well might say yes.  Not only because the job itself is very interesting and rewarding because of the nature of our relations, but because living in Korea has been one of the most delightful and exciting experiences that I’ve ever had and that my wife has ever had.  As you know, most of our time in the Foreign Service was spent either in Europe and Russia, which are fascinating, too.  But coming to Korea, living in Asia for the first time, was really like a new awakening for us:  to see a different culture, to see such a dynamic economic system, such an ambitious and energetic but friendly people, we felt very much at home here.  So I wouldn’t say that about some of the other jobs that I’ve had over the years, but this is one I wouldn’t mind doing a second time.

Q: That’s good to hear.  Another question, 하원진 (Ha Won-jin) asked about the alliance and the bilateral relations between the U.S. and Korea.  He says that Korea and the U.S. have established a cordial relationship through a variety of historic events.  In your opinion, what do you think was the most important historic event that enabled this strong bond in relationship, except for the Korean War and Korea’s divided situation?

AMB Vershbow: It is hard to think of any one event after the Korean War that brought us together in such a dramatic way.  I think it’s been more the accumulated experiences that we’ve had together since the Korean War that have made this a truly unique relationship.  Even with our differences on some issues -- whether it’s beef or how to deal with North Korea -- there is a closeness between Americans and Koreans that one does not find in other parts of the world, in other relationships that we have.  I think that it is perhaps the experience of growing together; of being so closely tied together, as Korea did its amazing economic development; as we’ve worked together in dealing with global problems or regional problems, going back to the Vietnam War or our work together in Iraq and in the United Nations -- just now we’re working on climate change together.  So I think that it is this accumulated experience and the shared values that underpins everything that we do. 

And then there’s the personal ties -- the fact that there are two million Koreans living in the United States and literally hundreds of thousands of Koreans here who attended American universities or even high schools, or who have done business in the States.  That has really given an interwoven fabric to the relationship that is very special. 

Q: Thank you.  Now I would like to pose some personal questions for you.

AMB Vershbow: That’s what I was waiting for.

Q: Personally, I am very looking forward to the answers too.  You have been in the Foreign Service for quite long now.  During your term, when was the most difficult or painful moment?  And how did you cope with the problem when you were faced with one?

AMB Vershbow: Well, I think that I have had to deal with a lot of difficult issues over the years; there have been several very challenging moments.  I think, for me, the most challenging was when I was working in Washington in the early ‘90s and the United States was struggling to deal with the conflict in former Yugoslavia, when for the first time since World War II we were seeing genocide being committed against representatives of the ethnic groups -- particularly the Muslims in Bosnia.  It was a really frustrating period when neither we nor our European allies could decide what exactly to do to stop the killing and to end the war.  So that was a very frustrating period and I even saw some of my colleagues at the State Department resign and end their careers in protest over our government’s failure to solve this problem. 

After those frustrating years, it was very satisfying to be involved, working at the National Security Council. in developing a strategy that did end the war.  It led to a peace agreement that is still holding and which is leading to the gradual integration of all the republics of the former Yugoslavia into the European Union and into NATO.  There are still tensions down there, but I think it was an example of how one could take a difficult situation and turn things around for the better. 

I can think of other emotional moments.  For example, when we were in Moscow a few years ago, the terrorist act against the theater, the Dubrovka Theater, was carried out and several hundred Russians -- and some Americans too -- were taken hostage by terrorists.  It was especially poignant because my wife and I, and one of our kids who was visiting, had just three days before attended that play at the same theater.  So we could identify with the victims -- and, unfortunately, many of them died in the process of a rescue attempt.  That was a very emotional time as well. 

Q: Next question, one person was curious what your life motto is.  He’s assuming that you would have a very fascinating one. 

AMB Vershbow: I was trying to think about that question because I don’t really have a motto that I have ever written down, but in thinking about it, I would say that it’s “Don’t be satisfied with the status quo.”  Whether you’re dealing with your personal life or your career, always think about ways to make things better, ways to improve the effectiveness of where you work or to strengthen your relationship with your spouse or your family.  Just don’t be satisfied with the status quo.  Make things better. 

Q: I am writing that down in my diary today after this interview.  You’re an expert in establishing relations, especially diplomatic relations.  But based on your relationship building and your special relationship with Mrs. Lisa Vershbow, if you were to give us advice on relationship building between people, especially dating tips, what will it be?  Interesting question….

AMB Vershbow: Well, I am not sure if we can give you dating tips because we have an unusual history in the sense that we first met when we were still teenagers, and it was…maybe it was fate that brought us together.  Lisa’s family moved into the neighborhood where my family lived when she was 12 years old and I was 13.  So we met at an early age and I finally got up the courage to ask her out on the first date when I was 16 and she was 15, and the rest is history.  So we never have been apart since then.  So that may not be the best model for people out there on the dating circuit. 

But I think in terms of building a relationship that can last, and ours has now been going on for almost 40 years -- we have been married for 32 of those 40 years --  I think it’s always based on mutual respect and support for the other partner, both on a personal level and in terms of their professional goals and aspirations.  I think, particularly today, it is important to ensure that both partners are able to strike the balance that they want between their work and family and other pursuits.  I have always tried to be very supportive of Lisa’s artistic activities and aspirations because I think it’s a part of her identity.  So I think that’s the key: equality and mutual respect and mutual support. 

Q: You two always look good together.  Continuing with family-related questions… 하원진 (Ha Won-jin) was curious what your reaction would be if your two sons were to come up and say “Father, I will marry a Korean woman.”  Will you be happy to greet a Korean daughter-in-law?

AMB Vershbow: Absolutely, and our older son is unattached at the moment, so anything is possible.  Our younger son has a very steady girlfriend, whom we like very much, so we would hate to see them break up.  But I would be delighted.  That would be a nice way of maintaining a connection to Korea after we leave Seoul.

Q: Any ending remarks for Café USA?

AMB Vershbow: Well, again, it’s been a pleasure to participate in this and previous Café USA events.  We want to make this as user-friendly a service because we believe that there cannot be too many channels of communication between the Embassy, and Americans more generally, and Koreans.  I think that, with the changing technology, there is always a search for the latest killer application that will be the most engaging and effective.  So if people have ideas for how we can make Café USA more user-friendly, more useful in general, let us know. 

Again, I think that one of the most satisfying parts of my three years in Korea has been the opportunity to have a lot of engagement; whether speaking at universities, or talking to people via Café USA, or just meeting with people at jazz clubs or noraebang (노래방).  I am a great believer in this kind of two-way communication, so send in those ideas and we can make it even better in the future. 

Q: Thank you very much, sir.  We look forward to meeting you on the Café USA web chat.

AMB Vershbow: See you soon.

Q: Thank you.