Jay Lefkowitz to Visit Kaesong?

He must be thanking his Creator that he’s not in Chung Dong-Young’s league now. South Korea has invited the man Comrade Chung snubbed last year to Kaesong, and Yonhap reports Lefkowitz, who has publicly raised some pointed questions about the use of slave labor at Kaesong, has accepted. The latest report follows this one, confirmed by the USG, that a senior State Department official will also visit.

Just one small problem here: the North Koreans haven’t granted him a visa, and just yesterday I noted that they’d revoked permission for a group of South Korean journalists to visit. Given the North Koreans’ treatment of a certain other high-profile visitor recently, expect the North Koreans to deny permission for the visit in spite of the fact that Lee Jong Seok has suggested that Lefkowitz ought to go see the place for himself.

Why is this all happenning? Because the remaining shards of the South Korean government need an FTA, and because the U.S. won’t accede to South Korean demands to include products from Kaesong, which is already proving to be an expensive disappointment to all involved. With idiots like this leading the public debate on the FTA, South Korea couldn’t get it through the National Assembly if it included counterfeit Benjamins.

There will only be an FTA when South Korea’s government has the backing of a supportive parliamentary majority. That means post-Roh.