On the Brink

Acknowledgements 10
Author’s Note 13
Preface 14

Chapter 1 Growing up
Born to a Family Rooted in Seoul for More Than Five
Centuries 19
Between Life and Death 23
An 8th Grader Cries: “No Truce! March North!” 25
Who Invaded Whom 27
Discovering the English Language 29
Meeting a New World 32
Another Moment of Life and Death 36

Chapter 2 Preparing a Career
Graduate Student Days in the U.S. 41
Witnessing a Student Movement in the U.S. 43
Professor Scalapino 45
Return to Korea and Professorship at Korea
University 49
Enlarging the Scope of Activities 53
I Became a Newsweek Columnist 56
Participating in Diplomacy 58

Chapter 3 A Young Minister
Media Guessing Game 67
Transition into the Foreign Minister Position 69
No Solicitation for a Job, Please 70
Stopping the U.S. from Bombing Yongbyun 71
Interests of Nations Related to Negotiations with
North Korea 76
Did South Korea Stop the United States from
Bombing North Korea? 82
The “What If…” Question 87
Preventing War 91
A Relationship That Is Close and Afar 93
The Uruguay Round and Opening of the Rice Market 100
One of Five “Culprits” 101
Back to the University 104
Three Impressive Diplomats 105

Chapter 4 Ambassador in Washington
The Beginning 115
Difference Between a Minister and an Ambassador 117
Credential Presentation 119
The First Summit 120
Troop Dispatch to Iraq 122
The North Korea Conundrum 125
Politics and Diplomacy 128
The Departure from Washington, D.C. 133
Return to Seoul 138

Chapter 5 A Civilian Diplomat in a Multilateral World
Cyprus: Special Representative of the SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations 139
Rwanda: Independent Enquiry Commission on the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda 147
East Asian Vision Group (EAVG) 161
EAS v. ASEAN+3? 163
Problems with EAS 168
Where Do We Go from Here? 170
Saving Multilateralism in a Unilateral World 171

Chapter 6 A Grand Strategy for South Korea?
The Regional Landscape: South Korea and the Major
Powers 181
Strategic Choices 191
Conclusions 193

Afterword 195
About the Author 199
Index 201

I was born in 1940, the 30th year of Japanese colonial rule, and five years before the end of the Second World War.