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‘Do something’ as Michelle Obama said

Published: 03 Sep. 2024, 19:57

JUNG KANG-HYUN
The author is a Washington correspondent of JTBC.

If literature is the art of words, politics is the technique of words. The success of a politician is determined by the ability to play with words rather than polish them. I covered the Democratic National Convention (DNC) held in Chicago for four days from Aug. 19. The DNC was filled with political language technicians, the speech geniuses. Notably, the “political language” of former U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama engaged the audience and even crossed the boundary of “literary language.”

For instance, Barack Obama said, “Yes, she can.” But it was not in the script though it was selected by the media as their headlines. An attendee in the front row shouted, “Yes, she can” — a parody of Obama’s “Yes, we can” from 16 years ago. Obama instinctively took it and repeated it. Michelle Obama’s words “Do something” were repeated over and over by the audience, making the meaning of the words more significant from the spontaneous exchange.

The intense political language of the Democratic Party’s “star speakers” was also considered a political act in itself. When the words of politics become sophisticated, they sometimes lead politics. I somehow felt bitter thinking about this during the festivity of American politics. First of all, I was reminded of the low level of Korean political language. But more importantly, there were words that were not spoken that day.

Except for a mention of “dictator Kim Jong-un” by Vice President Kamala Harris in her acceptance speech, the Korean Peninsula issue has not been mentioned by speakers throughout the four days. The Democratic Party approved the party platform where the “denuclearization of North Korea” was removed. I couldn’t expel the impression that the peninsula issue was pushed back in the priority list of the Democratic Party.

However, the Korean foreign policy authorities’ response to the absence of the phrase seems too loose. Neither the Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor the Embassy in Washington couldn’t explain clearly why the denuclearization goal disappeared from the Democratic Party’s platform. They only reiterated that Seoul and Washington are firm on the denuclearization of North Korea.

What’s not said in political language is also a powerful message. If there is a signal that a major American political party is pushing the peninsula issue down in the priority list, shouldn’t the Korean government respond immediately? I want to send the urgent message of Michelle Obama to the Korean diplomatic authorities. “Do something!” — before it’s too late.