[In depth interview]Ambassador during a tumultuous time

Alexander Vershbow

Winning Congressional support for the Korea-United States free trade agreement is one of the highest priorities of the current U.S. administration, Alexander Vershbow, U.S. ambassador to Korea, told the JoongAng Ilbo in a recent interview. Korea’s much-anticipated inclusion into the U.S. visa waiver program may become a reality as soon as early 2009, the ambassador said.
During the last three years, since being appointed to Seoul, Vershbow has seen one of the most tumultuous periods in Korean-United States relations, marked by negotiations for a Korea-U.S. free trade agreement that triggered intense debate among the public here, the start of the relocation of U.S. military bases in Korea and the still-continuing political and diplomatic hubbub over North Korea’s nuclear program and six-party talks aimed to denuclearize the communist country.
Vershbow will leave Korea this summer. Last week, Washington announced that Kathleen Stephens, senior U.S. State Department adviser for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, will be the next U.S. ambassador to Korea. Vershbow said he plans to stay in Korea until September to wrap up his work.
He hopes to see the U.S. Congress ratify the free trade agreement and North Korea dismantle its nuclear weapons program before he leaves.
“It is encouraging that Koreans seem to show very keen interest in the free trade agreement with the U.S. and that 65 percent of the public here shows strong support for the pact,” he said.
However, the debate in the United States over the trade pact is still in an infant stage, he said; “opponents speak more loudly than supporters.”
That does not mean the United States is not committed to garnering Congressional support for the pact, he said, stressing that he expects the agreement to pass the legislatures of both countries by the end of the first half of 2008.
“In the U.S., the major beneficiaries of the FTA will be making themselves heard, and we are working very hard to get all the FTAs this administration has negotiated approved by Congress during 2008,” he said. “We are now in negotiations to pass the FTAs with Panama and Colombia, but everyone knows the Korea-U.S. FTA is the biggest FTA in terms of benefits, size of trade and relationships, so there has to be no wavering to get it done.”
The Korea-U.S FTA, struck last summer, is now faced with a murky prospect for legislative approval, particularly in the United States. The Korean government is busy with the power transition to a new administration when President-elect Lee Myung-bak is inaugurated in late February, after which lawmakers will be busy preparing for the general elections in April. Lee, however, has announced he supports the pact and wants a quick passage.
In the United States, there is a looming presidential election in November. Both leading contenders for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, strongly oppose the pact.
Vershbow expressed optimism that Korea will join the U.S. visa waiver program by early 2009. The U.S. Senate approved a bill expanding the program last September.
Before the bill can take effect, “The United States has to put in place better systems for monitoring departures of those who come in without visas, and we have to establish what’s called an ETA, or electronic travel authority system, which submits basic data from the passports of passengers in advance, so passengers will be cleared for travel before they get on the airplane,” he said.
Korea also needs to introduce such electronic passports to accommodate the new visa waiver system.
“Experts from both countries will be meeting again at the end of this month, and I am optimistic that by the beginning of next year, we will be able to get the program working,” he said.
The ambassador also clarified his position on the issue of timing of the transfer of wartime operational control of the Korean military.
The issue has become a political hot potato between the two allies, as the Korean presidential transition team has lately stressed that the 2012 timeline should be “reconsidered.” The Korean media recently reported that Vershbow said the United States may be willing to renegotiate the deadline. The ambassador denied that report, saying the work to transfer some of the roles of the U.S. military here to the Korean military is already firmly underway.
“We decided to start the process of transferring wartime operational control over to Korea since Korea is now a very strong nation economically, but also in terms of its military power and experience in training professional skills in military forces,” he said.
According to the time frame and plans set by the U.S government, the U.S. military will continue to regularly review the security situation on the Korean Peninsula.
Any unexpected developments or problems within the next two or three years might lead the U.S. authorities to adjust the transfer plan, he said.
“But I think we already have a fairly substantial period of time to get this done right, and we will use the next four years to explain to the public that the American commitment to Korea’s defense is just as strong,” he said.

Alexander Vershbow, born in Boston, Massachusetts, is a career diplomat who has worked for the U.S. Foreign Service since 1977, serving in a number of countries including Russia and Switzerland. Before serving in Korea, he was the ambassador to Russia from 2001 to 2005 and the ambassador to NATO from 1998 to 2001.
For his work with NATO, he was awarded the State Department’s Distinguished Service Award.
Before joining the Foreign Service, he received a B.A. in Russian and East European Studies from Yale, a master’s degree in international relations and a certificate from the Russian Institute at Columbia University.
Vershbow, a long-time student of Russian affairs, witnessed the fall of the Soviet Union during his posting in the country as director of the State Department’s Office of Soviet Union Affairs and became well-known for his roles in many U.S.-Soviet summits and ministerial meetings.

By Choi Ji-young JoongAng Ilbo [hawon@joongang.co.kr]