Addressing an overflow audience, Park Geun Hye, chairperson of South Korea's Grand National Party, recalled how Columbia University had been the site in 1997 of round of four-party talks involving South and North Korea, the United States, and China that were focused on ways to build a regime of lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula. Against the backdrop of that hopeful moment, North Korea's recent declaration that it possesses nuclear weapons came as a great shock, she said. It raises concern that the North Korean pursuit of nuclear weapons could undermine the very foundation of global nonproliferation by setting off a domino effect in Northeast Asia. If North Korea's motivation is to preserve its closed totalitarian regime, Park stressed that such a move could never guarantee regime survival. On the contrary, she said, North Korea can preserve its political system and revive its economy only by giving up its nuclear program. To this end, she called for "a comprehensive solution" along the lines of a Marshall Plan for North Korea. If this approach is taken, the North Korean nuclear crisis could be turned into "a major opportunity, since the talks could extend as far as to include the issues of missiles, biochemical weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, as well as a project to build a permanent system of peace on the Korean Peninsula in the future." Stressing that it was never too late to pursue a diplomatic solution, Park cited the precedent established by former President Reagan. Despite identifying the Soviet Union as "an evil empire," he later played an historic role in negotiating a drastic reduction in the Soviet Union's nuclear weapons by engaging in bilateral talks with the Soviet leaders that eventually led to the end of the Cold War. "A diplomatic solution should not be precluded from a list of possible answers just because North Korea cannot be trusted," Park added. Recalling a meeting she had with Chairman Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang, she expressed interest in meeting with him again to discuss with him in a frank and objective way all the insights gained from her current visit to the U.S. On the subject of the U.S.-Korea alliance, Park stressed the need for it to become a reciprocal relationship. "To mark a new phase in the friendship between our two countries," she suggested, "we need to put ourselves in each other's shoes." During her visit to the U.S., Park was accompanied by a GNP delegation that included: Park Hee Tae, vice speaker, ROK National Assembly; Hwang Jin Ha, chairman, Second Policy Coordination Committee; Park Jin, chairman, International Relations Committee; Koak Sung Moon, chairman, Public Relations Committee; Chun Yu Ok, spokesperson and post-doctoral fellow, chief of staff to the chairperson.

Tuesday, March 8, 2005

About the Speaker

Park Geun Hye, chairperson of the Grand National Party (GNP), entered politics with the objective of reforming the party system and the overall political environment and ultimately building a stronger nation. The daughter of late President Park Jung Hee, Park Geun Hye graduated from Sogang University in 1974. She earned a degree in electronic engineering under the firm conviction that the electronics industry was an essential national priority if Korea was going to increase exports and become more competitive. In that same year, the First Lady was assassinated by a terrorist, leaving Park with the duty of accompanying her father to all major national functions in her mother’s place. After her father passed away on October 26, 1979, Park devoted herself to helping the poor and the marginalized through her management of the Yukyoung Foundation and the Saemaeum Hospital. Park served as director of the Senior Citizens’ Welfare Center, and subsequently went on to assume the position of director of the Korean Cultural Foundation in 1993, and director of the Jeongsu Scholarship Fund in 1994. The 1997 financial crisis came as a shock to Park. Although she had consistently refused to enter politics, she overcame her reluctance in order to play an active role in ensuring the prosperity of her country. In 1998, Park ran for a National Assembly seat on the GNP ticket for Daegu and was elected. She was reelected in the 2000 general election. The same year, Park gained the GNP vice presidency and was recognized as a representative politician. Park visited P’yongyang in May 2001 to promote inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation, and to further stabilize peace on the Korean peninsula. She met with North Korean Defense Chairman Kim Jong Il and reached agreement with him on such issues as the joint inspection of the Mt. Geumgang Dam, the confirmation of the whereabouts of Korean prisoners of war, the establishment of a permanent reunion center for separated families, the launch of working-level talks to reconnect inter-Korean rail links, and the invitation of the North Korean soccer team to the South. Park has been chairperson of the GNP since March 23, 2004, when she was elected by a landslide at the 6th GNP National Convention in the first round of voting.