‘Diplomatic giant’ Burns, head of the CIA…Pleasant memories that make Korea smile

William Burns, CIA Director-nominee, who will dominate not only the United States, but also the world. 2014 photo. AP=Yonhap News

On August 24, 2010, Chun Young-woo, then Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, boarded a plane to Washington DC with a heavy heart. It was to negotiate that the US sanctions against Iran made it a sandwich that Korean companies were begging for. The domestic company needed Iranian crude oil and made the payment in US dollars, but the payment was not possible due to US sanctions in Iran. As the US position was strong, the shoulders of Vice Minister Chun at the time of entering the office of the Vice Minister for Political Affairs at the State Department were bound to be heavy. The person who appeared in front of him at the time was William Burns, 65, Vice Minister. This is the Burns that President-elect Joe Biden nominated on the 11th (local time) as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the head of the US intelligence agency.

It is the first time that a member of the US State Department, a member of the Korean Foreign Ministry, has been appointed as the head of the CIA. It is said that the day of sunshine has come to the State Department, where the Donald Trump administration has struggled with being pushed from the core. The British economist analyzed on the 11th, “Burns is a person who is evaluated as a’diplomatic policy giant’. It has great implications for him to be in charge of the CIA.”

Former Vice Minister Chun, who is currently the chairman of the Korean Peninsula Future Forum, told the JoongAng Ilbo on the 12th, “I talked for quite a long time on the issue of Iran (at the time of 2010),” and “I remember as the best diplomat who knows how to listen to the other party.” Told. “It was different from some of the other high-ranking officials who felt like they were looking down on their opponents,” said former Vice Minister Chun. “Even if there are disagreements, he is a person who has both character and ability to seek diplomatic agreements and consider others.” After the meeting of former Vice Minister Chun and then Vice Minister Burns, Korea found the trick. Under the approval of the United States, instead of paying dollars, they created a payment system that created an account for payment in Korean won in Korean banks. Until it was frozen by the Donald Trump administration, it was an account that served as the urinary channel between South Korea and Iran.

US State Department logo. I was on the verge of being cold in the Trump administration. Now the situation has changed. AP=Yonhap News

Nominee Burns has been involved in Iran for a long time and has built a reputation as a’Middle East Tong’. He played a key role in the negotiations of the Iranian nuclear agreement (JCPOA, Comprehensive Joint Action Plan) in the Barack Obama administration. However, he is actually a person who is a’to the bones diplomat’ who has accumulated experience not only in the Middle East but also in all fields of diplomacy. A native of St. John’s College at Oxford University in England, he joined the State Department in 1982, when he was President Ronald Reagan. After that, he served as the ambassador of the main Ledan (Bill Clinton administration), the ambassador of Russia to the Russian Federation (George W. Bush administration), from the State Department to the Deputy Secretary for the Near East region, and from the Vice Minister of Government Affairs to Deputy Minister. Until his retirement in 2014, he took the elite course as a non-partisan orthodox diplomat while undertaking the presidency of both parties.

Currently, as the Chairman of the Carnegie International Peace Foundation, he has voiced strong criticism against the Trump administration for undermining foreign policy. The title of the memoir released in 2019 was 『the Back Channel』, the subtitle’Looking at US diplomacy and for its resurrection’.

Aside from criticism of the Trump administration, he has remained neutral to certain presidents and factions. Regarding the reason for the nomination of Burns, Biden said, “Burns shares my deep conviction that intelligence agencies should be free from factions.” said.

US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) logo. Recently, Director Gina Hespel created a new logo, but the Biden government may use the old logo. [중앙포토]

In his 2019 memoir, he wrote: “Just as a conductor of an orchestra cares about ensuring that all instruments are in harmony together, so too does a diplomat use every talent that the United States has to offer. From soft power to culture, from public diplomacy to information gathering.” The Economist quoted this phrase and interpreted, “He, who has been skilled under various presidents such as Obama, is now taking the role of a more intimate intelligence chief under Biden-elect.”

Burns’ road ahead is tough. The Washington Post (WP) David Ignaissance columnist said on the 11th, “Burns was a diplomat, not an intelligence officer.” I was concerned. “The CIA is an organization that hates change,” Ignaceus wrote. “Obtaining this organization will be Burns’ biggest challenge.”

But Burns’ nomination is good news for Korea. Not only for former Vice Minister Chun, but also for the nominee of Burns, it is well received by Korean diplomats. Shin Gak-soo, former Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, said in the call on the 12th, “It is the best among the orthodox diplomats,” and “has the ability and character to be moderated without progress and conservatives.” Ambassador Shin Bong-gil posted a post on Facebook saying, “A very attractive person who favored everyone with a humble and gentle impression”.

Reporter Jeon Sujin [email protected]