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H. Harris: Address to Summit 2022, Session IV
Written by Admiral Harry Harris, U.S. ambassador to Korea (2018-2021); Commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (2015-2018)
Friday, August 12, 2022
Address to Summit 2022 and Leadership Conference,
Seoul, Korea, August 11-15, 2022
Ladies and gentlemen, let me begin by expressing my condolences to the families of those who died and everyone who suffered during the recent flooding here in Korea. I also want to congratulate The Washington Times for their 40th birthday. I can’t even remember when I had my 40th birthday. And a big shout out to the Universal Peace Federation and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon for all that they do in the cause of peace.
I was asked to speak about diplomacy on the peninsula and how it relates to the quest for peace. This is a difficult subject for me, first and foremost because I believe that idealism must be rooted in realism. I will say that diplomacy and diplomats matter. That’s why I was so honored to serve as a US ambassador here from 2018 to 2021. This is also why I’m disappointed that it took the U.S. 18 months to get an ambassador at post after I left. Philip Goldberg is a fabulous diplomat. Korea traded up. But Korea should not have had to wait 18 months for their only ally to send an ambassador to Seoul. This is on us, the United States, and it’s a manifestation of the divided political landscape in Washington.
Last November in New York City, I called it legislative malpractice, but to be fair to the United States Senate, you can’t blame them if the White House doesn’t nominate people in a timely manner. We must do better.
I’ll also say that alliances matter. Last February, the Biden administration released its new Indo-Pacific strategy, the goal being nothing less than a free and open Indo-Pacific that’s connected, prosperous, secure, and resilient. It recognizes that America’s single greatest asymmetric threat is our network of alliances and partnerships. The President makes alliances the centerpiece of his foreign policy. To that I say bravo.
Ladies and gentlemen, I believe that we’re at an inflection point in history. We’re certainly nowhere near anything resembling the end of history. President Reagan once said that we can’t play innocents abroad in a world that’s not innocent. This statement is as true today as it was in 1941, in 1950, throughout the Cold War and on 9/11. The world remains a dangerous place. If you don’t believe me, just ask Ukraine or Taiwan. As the Moldovan parliamentarian said yesterday, the unipolar moment following the Cold War is over.
While our opportunities remain abundant, the path ahead is burdened by several considerable challenges, including an aggressive North Korea, a revisionist People’s Republic of China, and now a revanchist Russia. I’ll speak only about North Korea.
The textbook case for the importance of partnerships is a 69-year-old U.S.-South Korea alliance. Forged during a devastating conflict, it stood the test of time. Consider how much has changed in the world in general, northeast Asia in particular, and the Korean peninsula especially since 1953. Some changes have been for the better, such as South Korea’s miraculous growth into an economic and cultural powerhouse, a vibrant democracy, and a high-tech innovation nation that’s leading in the battle against Covid 19. South Korea has one-sixth the population of the United States and 1/40th the number of Covid deaths. Korea is doing something right.
Other changes have been for the worse. Today, North Korea stands as the only country in this century to have tested nuclear weapons. Toxic, despotic, erratic, North Korea is ruled by an iron fist, by a brutal, godless dictator who values his pursuit for power over the prosperity and welfare of his own people.
Pyongyang’s unrelenting pursuit of nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them and the North’s unmitigated aggression against the South should concern us all. Folks, the U.S. stands firmly with South Korea and is fully committed to this alliance. As Ambassador DeTrani just said. This is important because North Korea and China will continuously test the resolve of our alliance to seek ways to weaken the strong ties in order to divide U.S., and as Secretary Pompeo, we know who the aggressors are, and we must call them out.
I believe Kim Jong-un wants four things: sanctions relief, to keep his nukes, to split the alliance, and to dominate the peninsula. During last year’s 8th Workers Party Congress, he talked about strengthening his nuclear deterrent. The IAEA expressed concerns about the trajectory of North Korea’s nuclear program. The U.S. intelligence community assesses that North Korea views nuclear weapons as the ultimate deterrent against foreign intervention. Just this year, Kim Jong-un declared his intent to boost his nuclear program, adding that he’d be willing to employ them broadly in wartime. That doesn’t sound to me like he’s going to get rid of them anytime soon. While we all hope for diplomacy with North Korea to be successful, we must recognize that hope alone is not a course of action.
The quest for dialogue with the north must never be made at the expense of the ability to respond to threats from the north. So far this year, the north has launched dozens of missiles of increasing complexity, including hypersonic missiles, as well as ICBM and submarine launch ballistic missile tests. This is no path toward peace on the peninsula. Dialogue and military readiness must go hand in hand. As I said at the beginning of my remarks, idealism must be rooted in realism. We must not relax sanctions or reduce joint military exercises just to get North Korea to come to the negotiating table. This is a fool’s errand. If exercises and sanctions are reduced as a result or an outcome of negotiations, fine. That’s why we have negotiations, but don’t give them away beforehand.
Ladies and gentlemen, deterrence by appeasement is not deterrence at all. It’s unfortunate that North Korea has not embraced the opportunity presented by three U.S. and three South Korean presidential summits. The U.S. continues to seek to transform relations between Washington and Pyongyang, lasting peace on the Korean peninsula, and the complete denuclearization of North Korea, all of which were agreed upon by Kim Jong Un in Singapore in 2018 and would set the conditions for a brighter future for the North Korean people.
While I believe that Singapore was not a perfect agreement, I also believe that North Korea missed a great opportunity, and it’s a good starting point. I believe that they missed a great opportunity in Hanoi, and they won’t likely get another chance like that. I’m encouraged by President Yoon Suk-yeol’s intent to make the U.S.-ROK alliance the centerpiece of his foreign policy. I’m pleased that he places a primacy on defending South Korea against the threat from the North, which means a return to joint military exercises and emphasis on readiness and outreach to Japan. I’m impressed by the first-class foreign policy team that he’s assembled, including Foreign Minister Park Jin and Deputy National Security Advisor Cho-Tae-young.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for your attention.
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