Hillary Clinton meets with Korean President at the White House

Today Secretary Hillary Clinton attended President Obama's bilateral with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy at the White House.

After that meeting, at 6:30 p.m. there was a bilateral with His Excellency Lee Myung-Bak, President of the Republic of Korea at the Blair House, Washington D.C. Lee is meeting for talks with President Obama over the growing tensions with North Korea.

Tomorrow Obama and Lee will attend a U.S. summit. Trade and economic issues will be on the table tomorrow but North Korea will top the agenda at the summit, a Seoul presidential official told a Korean news agency, adding that Lee would seek a written U.S. commitment to the provision of a nuclear "umbrella" for Seoul in a summit joint statement. Read entire post

Secretary Hillary Clinton offers condolences to former Korean President Roh Moo-hyum

Today, Hillary attended a ceremony at the Korean Embassy in Washington D.C. for recently deceased former Korean President Roh Moo-hyum. She signed the Condolence Book for the former President, laid a flower and said a prayer. She also took a few minutes to speak on behalf of the U.S. to the people of Korea.

"President Roh’s dedication to democracy and human rights are two values that the United States and the Republic of Korea share. We are grateful for his life and his leadership. I know this is a very sad moment for the people of Korea, and we share that sadness with you.

Our alliance, our partnership, and our friendship is as strong as ever, and we look forward to continuing the legacy of a man who gave his all to the service of his country."

Read the Secretary's full remarks here. Watch the signing of the condolences book, laying of the flower, and full remarks below: Read entire post

Bill Clinton in Seoul May 18 and 19

According to an Asian News Source, JoongAng Daily, Bill Clinton will meet with former Korean President Kim Dae-jung in Seoul tomorrow, May 18.

An aide close to Kim said Clinton had suggested the meeting.

Bill apparently will be in Seoul to give the keynote speech on May 19th at the C40 Large Cities Climate Summit, to be held at the Shilla Hotel.

An aide to Kim also said that “Kim and Clinton will exchange views on issues ranging from solving the North Korean nuclear issue to peace in the Korean Peninsula.”

This will be the first meeting in 20 months between the two (their last meeting was September 26, 2007 at a Clinton Global Initative event). Ordinarily, a meeting between two former leaders isn't such a big deal, but reports from JoongAng Daily are saying that this is different now because of Hillary Clinton's important role as Secretary of State.

Also, Kim met with key Obama Administration officials - including Hillary Clinton - and Stephen Bosworth, the U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy - earlier this year.

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Third Stop: South Korea, cont.

After her press conference with South Korean officials, Secretary Clinton visited Seoul's Ewha University, the world's LARGEST all girls university in the world. This, I feel, is an extremely important stop on her trip. It wasn't that long ago that women were discouraged from attending college in Korea back in the 60s and 70s. At Ewha University men who are not employed by the school are NOT allowed to enter the school grounds (except a few extremely lucky guys: exchange students from outside Korea). Ewha was established when women getting any education was highly disapproved. No man, not even the father of a student, could come into the school and stop a women from getting an education here. The rule survives today. Amazing story, huh?

Another reason this visit is important is because this is a part of her outreach to ordinary citizens in addition to meeting with formal heads of state and such. This style of gathering mirrors the countless town halls of her campaign days; a format Hillary feels quite comfortable in. About 2,000 students gathered to see her speak. They gave a standing ovation as she entered the hall and frequently interrupted her speech with applause.

All but one question during the hour-long town hall meeting were personal, having to do with her upbringing, family and career. She said, "I feel more like an advice columnist than a secretary of state," she said. It's been reported that her book, "Living History" was very popular here; which probably sparked so much interest in her personal life.

"No country has yet achieved full equality for women. There is still a lot ahead for us to make sure that gender equality becomes reality... Part of my mission as the secretary of state is (making sure) the United States is committed to enhancing the rights of women."

Clinton expanded on women's issues saying society still makes it very hard for women to balance family and work. She called for more flexible working hours. She reminisced about her own experience working for the Rose law firm when male colleagues pretended not to know she was pregnant. After she had Chelsea, she received a call from a colleague asking when she was coming back to work. According to Hillary, the guy didn't understand the concept of maternity leave.

One questioner asked Clinton to describe her relationship with her daughter Chelsea. The response she gave was, "We could be here for hours!"

The best question, and the one that is getting the most attention in the media was about Bill. When asked how she knew that ex-president Bill was and is her one true love, she responded: "How does anybody know about love? If you can describe it, you may not fully be experiencing it. My husband is my best friend. We have an endless conversation ... we never get bored... I just feel very fortunate that I have a relationship that's been so meaningful to me in my adult life." She continued to speak about love saying "personal relationships are really what's important in life." She quoted a dying friend, a scientist, summing up her life: "I've loved and been loved. And all the rest is background music."

After the discussion, she waded into crowds of students despite nervous glances from her security detail (note the guy in the blue tie hehe). She worked the rope line and happily taken time to pose for photos with pretty much anyone who has gotten close enough to ask for one. The enthusiastic response from the crowd of students seem to energize her despite the extremely harsh and tiring travel. She also shook hands with South Korea's first astronaut Yi So-yeon and signed copies of her book during a meeting with female leaders that took place at the University.

Later that night, she arrived in the capitol city of China: Beijing. She was greeter by two senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She will be making this a three day long visit in Beijing. With bated breath, I am waiting, and the world is waiting for what is to happen the next few days. This is going to be intense!

Watch raw footage of Hillary arriving at the airport in Beijing here.

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Third Stop: South Korea

So late Thursday night Hillary Clinton arrived in Seoul amid all the drama and heightened tensions caused by North Korea's aggressive comments. Here's a video with some footage of Hillary as she arrived in South Korea.

Clinton arrived in a military airport on the outskirts of Seoul where she was greeted by Han Duck-soo, South Korean ambassador to the U.S. While Hillary was on her plane on her way to South Korea from Indonesia, a report came in in which North Korea accused the United States of planning a nuclear attack. She has talks planned on defusing Pyongyang's military threat and she addressed this issue on her flight:

"If there is a succession, even if it is a peaceful succession...that creates more uncertainty and it also may encourage behaviors that are even more provocative as a way to consolidate power within the society,"

On Friday, she engaged in talks with Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Yu Myung Hwan, had a luncheon meeting with President Lee Myung Bak and a meeting with Prime Minister Han Seung Soo. It was here that she announced former Ambassador Steven Bosworth as her special envoy on North Korea. She called Bosworth a "capable and experienced diplomat."

Embedded video from CNN Video

Yu and Clinton discussed a range of issues, including the future of the U.S.-South Korea alliance and the stalled six-way talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program. The six-way talks, are stalled due to differences over ways to verify Pyongyang's nuclear information. Other issues they discussed issue of South Korea's support for U.S. efforts in Afghanistan, the yet-to-be ratified free trade agreement between the two countries and other global issues like climate change. This is what she said about the six-party talks:

"(We will) try to convince the North Koreans to begin a process within the six-party talks toward the complete and verifiable elimination of nuclear weapons... we deal with the government in place right now, and that government is being asked to re-engage in the six-party talks.

(We) will be discussing what ways we can best approach North Korea so that we present a united front with respect to all of the issues that are of concern but the most immediate issue is to continue the disablement of their nuclear facilities and to get a complete and verifiable agreement as to the end of their nuclear program.

It is clear that (under a U.N. resolution) North Korea is required to suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile program. The North should refrain from violating this resolution and also from any and all activities that could harm the six-party talks and aggravate tensions in the region.

Hillary then visited the South Korea-U.S. military command at Youngsan Garrison. She was guided by Commander of U.S. Forces Korea General Walter Sharp. During her visit she met with top U.S. military commanders."

Also on the agenda is visit a Seoul women's university to attend a women leaders' forum, and a meeting with a number of female lawmakers.

One thing that is certain is that the Secretary was very well received by the people of South Korea. The conservatives of the state love her! A group held signs during a rally welcoming her outside the US embassy in Seoul. I know a little bit about Korea sub-culture so I think she really resonates with older Korean women. It has to be her strong, tough edge combined with grace and elegance that they really admire. As an American it's really great to see people from other countries saluting and holding up signs for our respected leaders... instead of setting them onfire.

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