Shocking revelations?

Lee Ha-won, the Chosun Ilbo's Washington correspondent, reports that Korea's chief negotiator, Kim Jong-hoon, wasn't always completely honest with his opposite number, or the press: What the FTA Talks Taught Us (July 3):

"My school evaluation said, 'Kim Jong-hoon is up-front and open-hearted.' But I wasn't like that during the free trade negotiations with the U.S. During the negotiations, I found I wasn't up-front and open-hearted at all."

Kim Jong-hoon, Korea's chief negotiator in the free trade talks with the U.S., made a personal confession after the agreement was signed in Washington, D.C. on Saturday. "I had no other choice during the talks," Kim told a meeting of Washington-based correspondents. "I wasn't up-front and open-hearted the whole year of the talks. In negotiations, you know, strategy and tactics come before everything else."

His disclosure was significant to this reporter -- I have been watching Kim since 1999 when I began covering the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. With his distinctive Gyeongsang provincial accent, Kim has long been regarded as one of the few straightforward diplomats. When he commented on someone he disliked, he would say, quite undiplomatically, "That guy is a charlatan." So I was intrigued last year when I heard that he had been chosen to head up the free trade talks.

What his confession reveals is that among diplomats, even straight talkers sometimes need to become devious Machiavellians when something as important as national interests are on the line. He revealed the dark side of negotiations, when shading the truth can be the best way forward.

Kim also confessed that he manipulated the press to bring the deal to a successful conclusion. "When the U.S. asked us for an additional round of talks, we decided, after consultations with the government agencies concerned, that there was no real problem in accepting the request. But if we admitted that the U.S. request was insignificant, we wouldn't be able to demand anything in return. So I told the press that we had some problems with doing those talks," he said.

Lee also discusses the Korean Trade Minister's remarks, making the point that the negotiations represent a win-win for Korea and the U.S.

A nice little piece, with personal insight about Ambassador Kim and an interesting example of the way the game is played.  The "take away" for the Korean audience is that their team played the game with sophistication, and got as good as it gave.