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Sage Advice from the State Department: For a change.

Reacting to President Roh Moo-hyun’s vision of South Korea as the geopolitical fulcrum of Northeast Asia, a U.S. State Department official, who asked that his name be withheld, urged Korean decision makers to remember the errors of the Joseon Dynasty at the end of the 19th century. The official made the statement in a meeting with a South Korean official who visited Washington to explain President Roh’s new doctrine that sees Korea as a future balancing force in the region. According to the South Korean official, the U.S. official said, “South Korea needs to consider the strategic mistake made by the Joseon Dynasty. Rather than standing on its own, the Joseon Dynasty made a strategic error in just trying to ally itself with foreign powers.”

How ironic that a doctrine of balance should come from Asia’s most unbalanced leader. A good lesson from the Joseon Dynasty might be, “never trust a hungry neighbor.”