Obama negligent in embracing S. Korea's opposition: expert

WASHINGTON, Feb. 12 (Yonhap) -- President Barack Obama should step up efforts to reach out to South Korea's opposition forces, especially amid the possibility of a power shift there in the year of parliamentary and presidential elections, an American expert said Sunday. David Straub, associate director of the Korean Studies Program at Stanford University's Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, said Obama has been "negligent" in trying to broaden support from South Korea's opposition for his policy on the Korean Peninsula. "President Obama, who is very popular among the young people of South Korea, should himself have taken a few hours during his visits to Seoul to appeal to them," he said in a report on Obama's policy on Korea. Other senior U.S. officials should have made greater efforts to meet opposition leaders, establish personal relationships, and explain American thoughts about the situation on the peninsula, he added. "The failure to do so may hurt U.S. interests, especially if the South Korean opposition wins the legislative and presidential elections this year, said Straub, who was in charge of Korea affairs at the State Department in the early 2000s. He retired from the department in 2006 as a Senior Foreign Service Officer after a 30-year career focused on Northeast Asian affairs. He backed Obama's overall approach toward North Korea, with a few realistic options available. Obama has also been viewed as closely coordinating with the South Korea's conservative government on the North Korean and other global matters. For the Obama administration, Straub said, the Iran issue has become more urgent than North Korea, since Israel is threatening military attacks on its nuclear facilities. Teheran is also narrowing Washington's options on Pyongyang, he pointed out. "Any concessions that the United States might make to a North Korea that already has nuclear weapons will be regarded by many in the United States and the international community as a whole as encouraging Iran in its defiance of the international community," he said. "This factor also further complicates the domestic political situation in the United States for considering concessions to North Korea." The main variables on the Korean Peninsula in the coming year will be the presidential elections in the U.S. and South Korea and what happens with regards to Iran, Straub said. (END)