Park, Obama, Abe Photo-Op

Many people have been talking about the recent meeting of President Park of South Korea, President Obama of the United States and Prime Minister Abe of Japan in the Kingdom of the Netherlands recently. It was the first time that President Park has agreed to meet and speak with Prime Minister Abe basically because of the irrational anger of those in the Republic of Korea who think they should shun Japan until absolutely everyone in the entire country agrees completely with them on their own national view of Japanese history. Which is rather ridiculous to say the least. However, the meeting did happen and there is probably some symbolic good to that, at least the 'ice' was broken and perhaps there can be other meetings in the future that will actually produce some good results. However, I am not optimistic and this meeting certainly produced nothing substantial, it was really just a photo-opportunity and one arranged by and for the benefit of President Barack Obama. True, the three countries did express their unity in opposing the nuclear program and aggression of communist North Korea but neither South Korea or Japan had ever expressed any change in that long-standing policy anyway. Nothing was said about why the Republic of Korea has refused to meet with the political leader of Japan and so nothing was really resolved.

This was really all about making President Obama look good. True, there was probably also a consideration of presenting the image of a "united front" to communist China and North Korea but even then, President Park did herself no favor by only agreeing to meet with Prime Minister Abe (as any mature government leader should have long ago) which President Obama arranged it. It made President Park look week by appearing as though President Obama was the "adult" who had to persuade the childish Korean president to come and sit down with Mr. Abe like a reasonable, mature person. It did not really change any perception for Prime Minister Abe who had always expressed his willingness and desire to meet with President Park, it was Park who was refusing all along to meet or speak with him. People have to understand that Obama had his own public image in mind all along. In the United States he has been seen increasingly as weak and ineffectual due to his own domestic policies and his failure to persuade anyone to go along with his efforts to punish Syria or Russia. So, he needed something that would make him look like a strong leader and this was his opportunity, by getting this meeting to happen and sitting in the middle between President Park and Prime Minister Abe, he could appear to the American public as the "grown up" who brought the two bickering children together. President Park and Prime Minister Abe were both basically used as background decorations in a photo-op to make Barack Obama look like a great statesman -which he clearly is not.