미국의 북한 정책(2013년 7월 20일)

조 바이든 미국 부통령이 조지 워싱턴 대학교의 미국발전연구소(Center for American Progress) 창립 10주년 기념식에서 연설한 내용을 미국대사관에서 보내주었습니다. 미국 정부의 아시아 태평양 정책에 관해 제법 길게 얘기하지만, 북한에 대해 언급한 부분과, 미국이 어떻게 ‘세계에서 가장 혁신적인 나라’의 지위를 유지할 수 있는지 설명한 부분만 옮겨둡니다.

 

요약하면, 북한의 핵과 미사일 문제에 대해 일본, 한국 등 동맹국들과 긴밀히 협조하고, 중국, 러시아 등과 협력을 강화하겠다, 북한은 늘 하던 대로 ‘대화’를 요구하고 있지만 그건 그들이 늘 쓰는 수법이다, 북한은 핵무장을 포기해야만 평화와 번영을 누릴 수 있다는 내용입니다.

 

미국이 ‘여전히 세계에서 가장 혁신적인 나라’로 존재할 수 있는 이유는 ‘자유’ 때문이라고 강조합니다. “자유롭게 숨 쉴 수 없는 곳에서 혁신을 기대하긴 매우 어렵다. 우리가 현재와 같은 번영, 혁신, 탄력성을 갖게 된 것은 우리의 개방성, 사상의 자유로운 교류, 자유로운 기업, 전반적 자유 때문이다. 이런 것들이 초래하는 불리함이 있지만 무엇을 준다 해도 이것들과 바꾸지는 않을 것이다.” 라는 대목은 부럽습니다. 비록 에드워드 스노우든이 미국의 치부를 드러내긴 했지만 아직 미국은 세계 대부분의 나라들보다 ‘자유’로운 나라이니까요.

 

 

Remarks by Vice President Joe Biden on Asia-Pacific Policy

 

July 18, 2013, George Washington University

Washington, D.C.

 

... With regard to North Korea, the one thing I think everyone now agrees on -- we agree that its nuclear and missile programs present a clear and present danger to stability in the area, in East Asia in particular. That’s why we’re working closely with our allies, Japan and South Korea. But we’re also working more closely than the 40 years I’ve been engaged with China and with Russia.

 

In light of North Korea’s recent provocative behavior, we welcome President Xi’s important statement: achieving a denuclearized Korean Peninsula, as that being a Chinese priority. Not just something they wish for, but a priority. We welcome that firm assertion.

 

Now, North Korea is calling for dialogue. As my mother would say, I’ve seen this movie before. (Laughter.) We’ve been there before. But we are ready. We are ready, but only if North Korea is prepared to engage in genuine negotiations. We will not countenance North Korea’s pattern of provoking a crisis and then insisting they be rewarded in order to cease and desist from the actions they are taking. We’ve been there before, only to find that once they’re gotten the space or the aid they need, they return to the same provocative, dangerous behavior and continue their nuclear march.

 

North Korea can have peace and prosperity like the rest of the region, but only without nuclear weapons. North Korea has a clear choice: It can choose a better path for its people, or continue down the road they’re on.

 

Make no mistake about it, though. We are open to engaging with any nation that’s prepared to live up to its international obligations. That’s what we did in Burma. And I think most would say we’re already seeing some tangible benefits from that engagement...

 

We are prepared to help other countries as well. Our oil imports are the lowest they’ve been in the last 20 years. And I believe -- if my colleagues from abroad will forgive me, I believe we remain the most innovative country in the world.

 

But I also think, folks, that the rest of the world understands why this is happening, and it’s not just the good fortune of having shale gas or having two oceans, et cetera. I think it’s because of the enduring strength of our people and of our system. For all our difficulty in education for our children, they’re still taught to challenge orthodoxy. No one in America is diminished or punished for challenging orthodoxy.

 

It’s the only way there can be a breakthrough, is to challenge orthodoxy -- where competition is fair; where people have a right to express their views, practice their religion, and decide their future. These are universal values. They’re not unique to Americans. I believe there is no Asian exception to the universal desire for freedom.

 

And the issues that young people are seized with all across Asia and the world -- corruption, land rights, pollution, food and product safety -- these are all fundamentally linked to openness and transparency, to greater rights and freedom.

 

In my humble opinion, no nation has to adopt the exact system we have. That’s not what I’m suggesting at all. But it’s awful hard to be innovative where you can’t breathe free. It’s awful hard to make significant technological breakthroughs where orthodoxy is the norm.

 

In my humble opinion, the very things that made us such a prosperous, innovative and resilient nation -- our openness, our free exchange of ideas, free enterprise and liberty -- all of which have their downsides, as we’ve recently seen in Boston and other places -- they have downsides -- but we would not trade them for all the world.

 

Presumptuous for me to say, because you never tell another leader what’s in their interest, never tell another country what they should do. But I believe these elements are the fundamental ingredients for success for any nation in the 21st century.

 

There was that famous line by the founder of Apple, when asked at Stanford, what do I have to do to be more like you? And his response was, think different. You can only think different where you can think freely, where you can breathe free air.

 

So let me conclude by saying we see, as Neera said, this is not a zero-sum game. It’s overwhelmingly in our interest that India continues to grow. It’s overwhelmingly in our interest that China grows. It’s overwhelmingly in our interest that the world economy grow. Because we believe Asia’s success is fundamentally linked to ours.

 

So the President and I are going to continue to reach across the ocean, both east and west, particularly to the indispensable Pacific nations, to help us shape a prosperous future, for America, for their people, and I would argue for the world.