It has been more than three weeks since Us President Donald Trump made a hopeful statement that North Korean Leader might send him a Christmas present that is not a nuclear launch. US ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris has expressed that he was surprised and but pleased that the 'Christmas present' was not given in light of stalled nuclear disarmament talks.
North Korea had warned that its Christmas gift to the US would depend on what action Washington took in the talks, leading to concerns that it might conduct a major weapons test. While North Korea refrained from conducting any nuclear tests, the US didn't meet a year-end deadline set by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to make economic concessions.
“You can say that I personally was surprised. But I'm glad also ... there was no Christmas gift, Ambassador Harry Harris told reporters in Seoul. Washington was ready for any eventuality, and we were all glad that there was no ICBM test or nuclear test.” Harris also added that South Korean President Moon Jae-in and President Trump are keeping the door open to negotiations and hoping that Kim Jong Un will walk through that door.
Harris said Trump believes Kim will live up to the pledge he made during the Singapore summit in 2018, where he said he will work towards denuclearlisation of the Korean peninsular and will work with the US to improve relations and build lasting peace.
Harris might be hopeful on the US and Jong Un resolving denuclearisation and the sanctions issue, but, his moustache has come under the scanner.
Harris, born to an American father and Japanese mother, the former navy admiral has been called out as his facial hair is said to be insulting his hosts. The moustache sported by Harris reminds many South Koreans of the days the nation was under Japan's imperial rule. The moustache has become the object of resentment and ridicule among South Koreans.
Japan's colonisation of the Korean peninsula was one of its darkest times in its history. South Koreans hold a long-running animosity towards Japan. South Koreans recall that Japanese governors-general who ruled them from 1910 to 1945 wore moustaches. “My moustache, for some reason, has become a point of some fascination here,” said Harris and added that he has been ridiculed also for his Japanese-American ethnicity.
Japanese troops placed in Korea often turned to young Korean girls who were sold were 'comfort women' and were used for sex. This is still a sore topic among the two nations.
Mostly clean-shaven, Harris said he began growing out a moustache to mark his retirement from the navy.
His appointment as Seoul's ambassador itself stoked a sore spot among South Koreans because of his part Japanese heritage. South Koreans wonder if Harris growing a moustache is a calculated insult to the nation. The fact that Harris has pushed for Trump administrations demand that South Korea pay more for the upkeep of US troops in South Korea since his appointment, has helped him gain the image of an overbearing US envoy among many South Koreans.
Harris, after South Korean students, broke into his house over to protest Washington’s demand for an increase in defence burden-sharing, said that he understands the animosity between the two nations and that he isn't the Japanese American ambassador to Korea, but the American ambassador to Korea.
On the diplomatic front, Harris said that the South should consult with the US on any new exchanges between South and North Korea when President Moon Jae-in raised the possibility of allowing North Korean tourists to visit the South.
Coming back to the topic of his moustache, he said he had no intention of shaving it off.
