The chairman of the College's Board of Trustees spoke about the need to maintain peace and security through military deterrence and reunification efforts in the Korean peninsula yesterday morning during his confirmation hearing for the U.S. ambassadorship to South Korea.
Stephen Bosworth '61, who President Clinton nominated three weeks ago, spoke before the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs. The committee will deliberate for anywhere from several days to several weeks before either recommending Bosworth's confirmation to the full Senate or rejecting the nomination.
Bosworth would fill a position left vacant since January, when the previous ambassador to South Korea, James Laney, resigned. If confirmed, Bosworth would most likely still continue his tenure on the Board of Trustees, which only meet four times a year.
During his statement yesterday, Bosworth told Congress he would "greatly welcome the opportunity and the challenge" of working in South Korea.
Bosworth emphasized the importance of maintaining the security alliance, "the backbone of the relationship," with South Korea while developing the growing economic and commercial ties between the world's 11th-largest economy and seventh-largest trading partner. Korea is the fifth-largest U.S. export market.
But while diplomatic ties have been growing with South Korea, North Korea remains "a potential threat to ... peace and security," Bosworth said at the hearing.
"We remain fully committed to maintain our troop strength at the current level in Korea," he said. "Military deterrence of North Korea must remain the bedrock of our relationship ... so long as North Korea maintains its hostile posture."
Bosworth said he would work hard, if confirmed, to continue efforts to supplement the deterrence program through engaging "North Korea in a diplomatic process to create a lasting peace in the Korean Peninsula."
Bosworth expressed optimism that North Korea's worsening economic condition, "highlighted by serious food shortages" would eventually bring the country back in line.
In closing, Bosworth spoke about the key U.S. objectives of de-nuclearizing the Korean peninsula, promoting trade and economic prosperity and fostering democracy and freedom.
"Some of these goals will be difficult to achieve," he said. "I am confident that if [we] work together, we can meet these challenges and build a brighter future for both our countries."
As background, Bosworth told Congress about his two-year involvement with the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization -- an international group charged with delivering heavy fuels and aiding in the construction of safer nuclear reactors in North Korea. In exchange, North Korea has frozen and will eventually dismantle its current nuclear program which gave the country the potential to develop nuclear weapons.
Bosworth has been chairman of the Board of Trustees since the spring of 1996 and was originally elected to the Board as an Alumni Trustee in 1992.
