She attributes the attention she gets in South Korea to an appreciation, particularly among older Koreans, "that I was here when things were tough and that we've had a shared experience." She also appears on television regularly speaking Korean and writes a blog, using the Korean name that teachers she worked for in the Peace Corps gave her. People routinely call out to her on the street and approach her speaking Korean. "I did really try to use Korean as much as I possibly could when I got here, even when it was cringe-inducing to me," she said. Her history watching South Korea's rapid development -- she was also here as a political officer in the U.S. Embassy in the 1980s -- has given her a long-term perspective on the possibility for change in North Korea. "It's a human tragedy that this peninsula was divided," she said. "We have unfinished business here. That's why we think the six-party talks are so important. The six-party talks are certainly about denuclearization but they're about a vision of a Korean peninsula where there will be greater opportunities for the people of North Korea." Kathleen Stephens, appointed US Ambassador to South Korea, served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Korea.
To many South Koreans, Ambassador. Stephens has fueled a growing spirit of goodwill to the U.S., boosted in part by her ability to speak Korean, which she learned as a Peace Corps volunteer here in the mid-1970s
U.S. Tightens South Korean Ties
By EVAN RAMSTAD
SEOUL -- The long-running North Korean nuclear standoff appears to be inching toward a return to the multilateral disarmament process, U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Kathleen Stephens said in a wide-ranging interview Tuesday.
"It is up to North Korea," Ms. Stephens said in an interview. "What we have been trying to do over the last few weeks and longer is to relay to the leaders in Pyongyang a consistent and united message … that they're on the wrong track."
She said she hopes North Korean leaders will re-assess their self-interest and "see the path to real security does lie in a return to the six-party talks."
Excerpts
"The future of the peninsula should be in the hands of the Korean people."
-- Read more from Kathleen Stephens on relations in the region
"We've said that in a number of ways and in a number of times," she said. "And the same message has come from the other capitals in the region in a number of ways and in a number of times."
Her comments came in a wide-ranging interview, her first with a U.S. newspaper since becoming ambassador a year ago. Ms. Stephens also discussed several U.S.-South Korean agreements reached in recent years that are now hitting stride and form a big part of the day-to-day work of the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. "The mechanical part of the alliance is in good shape," she said.
To many South Koreans, the biggest such change is in the role and footprint of the U.S. military. U.S. commanders are training the South Korean military to take over war-time operational control of Korean forces in 2012. And the U.S. military is consolidating to a handful of major bases from several dozen a few years ago.
In the past, such changes sparked outcry from South Korean conservatives who feared they signaled a reduced U.S. commitment to the South's security. Ms. Stephens said that perception is changing.
"What it isn't about is any sort of diminution or change in U.S. commitment," she said. "It is an approach that we think will make our mutual defense capabilities stronger and will reflect better the realities of today's South Korea and today's U.S."
Finance officials from both countries are continuing to work closely on economic recovery efforts. Last week, the U.S. backed South Korea's push to make the G-20 the pre-eminent forum for economic discussion. And the U.S. last year allowed South Korea into its visa-waiver program, triggering an explosion of 800,000 applications.
But the biggest economic advance the two countries have attempted -- a free trade agreement signed in April 2007 -- hasn't been completed because it awaits ratification by lawmakers in both countries. Last month, Ms. Stephens and South Korea's ambassador to the U.S., Han Duck-soo, toured five U.S. states to promote the trade deal and listen to concerns about it, notably in agricultural states like Montana and auto-focused ones like Michigan.
In the two years since the trade pact was signed, both countries have elected new presidents and a global recession slowed consideration of many trade deals. "It's perhaps not so surprising we are where we are today, which is trying to find a way forward on ratification," Ms. Stephens said. "But our two leaders have agreed that we want to do that."
To many South Koreans, Ms. Stephens herself has fueled a growing spirit of goodwill to the U.S., boosted in part by her ability to speak Korean, which she learned as a Peace Corps volunteer here in the mid-1970s. She attributes the attention she gets in South Korea to an appreciation, particularly among older Koreans, "that I was here when things were tough and that we've had a shared experience."
She also appears on television regularly speaking Korean and writes a blog, using the Korean name that teachers she worked for in the Peace Corps gave her. People routinely call out to her on the street and approach her speaking Korean. "I did really try to use Korean as much as I possibly could when I got here, even when it was cringe-inducing to me," she said.
Her history watching South Korea's rapid development -- she was also here as a political officer in the U.S. Embassy in the 1980s -- has given her a long-term perspective on the possibility for change in North Korea.
"It's a human tragedy that this peninsula was divided," she said. "We have unfinished business here. That's why we think the six-party talks are so important. The six-party talks are certainly about denuclearization but they're about a vision of a Korean peninsula where there will be greater opportunities for the people of North Korea."
Write to Evan Ramstad at evan.ramstad@wsj.com
