By Park Song-wu
Staff Reporter



A group of Christian civic activists holds a rally denouncing U.S. Ambassador Alexander Vershbow for making what they call provocative remarks against North Korea in Kwanghwamun, central Seoul, Thursday. /Korea Times

U.S. Ambassador Alexander Vershbow’s recent labeling of North Korea as a ``criminal regime’’ went beyond the bounds, National Assembly Speaker Kim Won-ki said on Thursday.
It is the second remark to come from parliament in a week, criticizing the American envoy to Seoul for his ``provocative’’ definition of the Pyongyang regime.

On Tuesday, Rep. Kim Won-wung of the ruling Uri Party warned that he would introduce a resolution, demanding Washington recall Vershbow.

``It is regrettable that Ambassador Vershbow’s statements went too far,’’ the speaker said during an interview with a KBS radio program. ``His remarks were not appropriate for an ambassador to South Korea, which is endeavoring to stabilize peace on the Korean Peninsula.’’

Speaker Kim, however, said that no organized move has been observed in parliament to draft a bill, requesting Washington to summon the highest-ranking U.S. official ever assigned to the post in Seoul.

An official at Kim Won-wung’s office in the Assembly told The Korea Times that the lawmaker will not comment on Vershbow’s remarks for a while. The official declined to say whether the lawmaker was gagged by the ruling party’s leadership.

In Seoul on Dec. 7, Vershbow said that North Korea is a ``criminal regime’’ and the U.S. cannot remove sanctions as a political gesture when the regime is engaging in dangerous activities such as weapons exports to other rogue states.

North Korea reacted angrily, calling Vershbow a ``governor general’’ of South Korea and ``the most bitchy and malignant ambassador in history.’’

Meanwhile, a high-ranking Seoul official implied that U.S. officials’ recent remarks show Washington’s straight-forward attitude toward the Pyongyang regime.

``As a matter of fact, I think there has been no change in Washington’s view of Pyongyang,’’ he said, requesting not to be named.

In Philadelphia on Dec. 12, U.S. President George W. Bush said, ``North Korea is a country that has declared boldly they’ve got nuclear weapons, they counterfeit our money, and they’re starving their people to death.’’

In Virginia on Dec. 9, Robert Joseph, undersecretary for arms control and international security of the U.S. State Department, said, ``This regime in the North cannot last that much longer. How much longer it does last will be in part dependant upon how much assistance it gets from outside, including from South Korea and China, but also other parties. It is a regime that has no future, I would argue.’’

im@koreatimes.co.kr