Moon receives foreign diplomatsPresident Moon Jae-in (R) and U.S. Ambassador Harry Harris shake hands during a presidential reception for foreign ambassadors in South Korea at the Nokjiwon at the presidential office in Seoul on Oct. 18, 2019. (Yonhap)
U.S. President Donald Trump (R, front) shakes hands with U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris shortly after landing at Osan Air Base in Gyeonggi Province on June 29, 2019. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
I wonder if President Trump asked Ambassador Harris about that mustache?
I still can’t get used to seeing Admiral Ambassador Harris with a mustache:
U.S. Ambassador to Korea Harry Harris visits the back alley of Seochon, an area west of Gyeongbok Palace in central Seoul, to try out a traditional Korean rice alcoholic beverage called “makgeolli” for the very first time.
While sitting in a tiny, cozy hanok, Harris carefully sipped on samplers of makgeolli with all different flavors served with beautifully crafted Korean traditional dishes that go well with it. And he immediately fell in love with makgeolli. All is captured on a video posted on the embassy website. [Korea Times]
Ambassador Harris recently made a very subtle message to the Moon administration in regards to sanctions on North Korea:
South Korea and the United States should have a “common voice” in dealing with North Korea rather than putting priority on improving inter-Korean relations over denuclearization, U.S. Ambassador to Seoul Harry Harris said Wednesday.
“We are, of course, cognizant of the priority that President Moon Jae-in and his administration have placed on improving South-North relations. I believe this inter-Korean dialogue must remain linked to denuclearization, and South Korea synchronized with the United States,” Harris said during a seminar co-hosted by the Asan Institute for Policy Studies and the Wilson Center.
“There, of course, remains a lot of work to be done, but I believe that if the United States and South Korea continue to approach North Korea with a common voice, we can turn the commitments that were made in Pyongyang, Panmunjeom and Singapore into reality.”
He made his remarks amid the recent dissonance between South Korea and the U.S. in dealing with easing sanction against the North. He reiterated Washington’s stance of maintaining sanctions against Pyongyang, while expressing discontent over Seoul’s move to prioritize improving inter-Korean relations and easing the sanctions.
The two countries have been showing different approaches to achieving the denuclearization of North Korea. President Moon Jae-in, on a state visit to European countries, has urge them to ease the sanctions somewhat. Meanwhile, the U.S. has been warning South Korea that lifting them, along with related actions, should only take place with Washington’s approval. [Korea Times]
U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris holds a copy of the U.S. TIME magazine featuring popular K-pop band BTS during an experts forum at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul on Oct. 17, 2018. (Yonhap)
It appears that Ambassador Harris is going to need to start packing a gun to protect himself after reading this article:
Habib House is the U.S. ambassador’s residence in downtown Seoul. Yonhap
What if it had been a terrorist?
That must be what crossed the mind of U.S. Ambassador Harry Harris.
About 10 p.m. on Sept. 3, an intruder was caught prowling Habib House, the U.S. ambassador’s residence in downtown Seoul.
It is said Harris is not happy with the intrusion and the lack of adequate follow-up measures by Korean police.
The intruder proved to be a Korean-Chinese woman who arrived in Korea two days before the break-in.
When discovered in the house, she was reportedly speaking incoherently and making an unfounded claim that she was a relative of former President Lee Myung-bak, now in jail and being tried for corruption while in office, among other things.
It couldn’t be confirmed whether the ambassador was at home when the intrusion happened. But he is said to be upset about what could have happened if the woman was an IS terrorist trained to harm him.
He is said to be dissatisfied with the Korean police response, not even offering written assurances promising no repetition of a similar incident.
The Namdaemun police station, which is handling the case, told The Korea Times that the suspect was released 48 hours after the incident and it was no big deal.
“Breaking in and entering is not a serious crime,” a police officer said. “By law we could hold the woman for 48 hours. So we released her.” [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but based on the police response to this incident, any crazy leftist could break into the US ambassador’s house to launch a protest against the Trump administration’s North Korea policies with no consequences.
What makes this matter even worse is that the prior US ambassador Mark Lippert was brutally knifed in the face by inadequate Korean security.
South Korean Justice Minister Park Sang-ki poses with U.S. Ambassador to Seoul Harry Harris prior to their meeting at the justice ministry in Gwacheon, south of Seoul, on Aug. 29, 2018, in this photo provided by the ministry. (Yonhap)
It would be helpful if the article would have specified which news outlets were not invited to the news conference. Maybe the embassy only invited major news outlets and not smaller ones?:
Ambassador Harry Harris
New U.S. Ambassador Harry Harris held his first news conference Thursday since taking the job. The former admiral invited several newspapers and broadcasters, but others were not invited.
Certainly, it was his prerogative to invite who he wished, but this approach often carries risks.
In Harris’ case, it could send a wrong message not just to the uninvited media outlets but by extension their readership or audiences.
The “wrong” message is that the new ambassador is emulating his boss, President Donald Trump, picking choosing from the media so he can speak to outlets he views as favorable (in Trump’s case, Fox) and lumping the rest as fake news producers (in Trump’s case, CNN).
If he was following Trump’s lead, then it would not be a wrong message but an intended one. [Korea Times]
It looks like Ambassador Harris is being consistent in the messaging coming from the White House towards Pyongyang that major concessions will not happen until real steps towards denuclearization occur:
Ambassador Harry Harris
New U.S. Ambassador to Seoul Harry Harris said there must be “demonstrable moves” from North Korea toward denuclearization before any declaration of the end of the 1950-53 Korean War is made between the two sides.
Harris, who held a news conference for local media on Thursday at the U.S. ambassador’s residence, is making his views known only a few weeks after arriving in South Korea.
“One of the things that hasn’t happened is the demonstrable moves toward denuclearization before we can entertain something like the end-of-war declaration,” Harris said, according to Yonhap.
“I think for the denuclearization to happen, we need to see the move and I haven’t seen that yet.” [UPI]
Friends and family gathered at Knight Field, US Army Garrison Yongsan, to welcome newly appointed U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, Harry Harris, and to say goodbye to Marc Knapper, outgoing , July 17. Knapper served as Chargé, d’Affaires for more than a year replacing former ambassador, Mark Lippert.(Photos by Staff Sgt. David Chapman, UNC-CFC-USFK) [USFK Facebook page]
