‘"It is not desirable to seek better inter-Korean relations without any progress concerning the nuclear issue or to directly link all matters of inter-Korean relations with the nuclear issue." Page 59 of the Park Geun-hye government's “National Security Strategy” states a policy to pursue both the resolution of the nuclear issue and progress in inter-Korean relations simultaneously. But President Park Geun-hye has shut down the Kaesong Industrial Complex and severed inter-Korean relations on grounds of the North's fourth nuclear test. She has carried out the "undesirable" act of directly linking all matters of inter-Korean relations with the nuclear issue. This was her first step off the path.

On the morning of August 2, President Park Geun-hye makes her opening statement at a cabinet meeting held in a video conference room at Cheong Wa Dae. The president spoke of the placement of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system and the "Kim Young-ran Act," but did not mention problems with presidential appointments including Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs Woo Byung-woo. Woo is seated in the back to Unification Minister Hong Young-pyo's right. Cheong Wa Dae press photographers

Afterwards, she focused on the nuclear issue at the expense of inter-Korean relations, but made no progress, probably because of her limited policies, which included nothing other than sanctions. The complexity of the problem of North Korea's nuclear program goes beyond simple sanctions, but President Park insisted on sanctions. And mockingly, Kim Jong-un continued to boast of his ways. The louder Kim Jong-un is, the more Park Geun-hye burns with the determination to draw his surrender. Now, there is no simultaneous pursuit of inter-Korean relations and a resolution to the nuclear issue in Park's sight. Resolving the nuclear issue first is no longer her concern, either. Bringing Kim Jong-un down, that is her new goal. This was the second time she deviated from her course.

To draw the North’s surrender, Park must strengthen international cooperation in pressuring the hermit country. In particular, the cooperation of China, which acts as a support for North Korea, is a decisive factor. Thus the president should avoid issues that can trigger conflict with China and keep all issues tied to the sanctions. But the president irritated China by saying that she would review the placement of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in Korea from the perspective of national interest. This was her response to how President Xi Jinping had refused her phone call when North Korea carried out its fourth nuclear test. And she changed her goal. Her policy to simultaneously pursue inter-Korean relations and a resolution of the nuclear issue shifted to resolving the nuclear problem first. Then that changed to sanctions on North Korea, which in turn changed to giving Xi Jinping a lesson for disappointing her. This was where she veered off the path for the third time.

President Park does not neglect a target, once she has selected one. When China was driven into a corner with the Court of Arbitration’s ruling that the South China Sea did not lie under the jurisdiction of China, Park launched a second attack by deciding to place the THAAD missiles in Korea. The THAAD system is not a means to prevent the development of nuclear weapons and missiles. The system is not even effective in protecting against missiles. But then that doesn't matter. South Korea has little to choose from due to the insecurity in national security brought on by the failure in its foreign policy. The North Korean threat has grown bigger and the U.S. is urging to place the THAAD missiles. For President Park, who has already veered off course, there lies only one path before her. What else could she say but these words, "If there is a way to protect our people from North Korean missile attacks other than the THAAD missiles, then please present it." Her goal changed again: how to successfully place the THAAD system in Korea, wandering from her path a fourth time.

With the rise of the THAAD issue, a change occurred in the confrontation between North Korea and South Korea with the U.S., Japan, China and Russia siding with the South. Now North Korea stands against China and Russia, which in turn stand to confront South Korea, the U.S. and Japan. Here, a new confrontation has emerged, intersecting with the existing confrontation: THAAD versus anti-THAAD. South Korea, the U.S., Japan and the conservatives in South Korea stand in favor of THAAD, while North Korea, China, Russia, those critical of THAAD in South Korea and the Seongju residents stand against THAAD. The goal has become simple, but the conflict has become complicated. Here President Park reaches her final solution: strange rumors and melons. If only strange rumors were behind the arguments opposing the placement of THAAD, if only there was no problem in eating Seongju melons, then what? The government now focuses on two battlefronts: one against strange rumors and the other in support of the melons. And thus the president steps away from the path a fifth time.
If we summarize the short history of the Park Geun-hye government's foreign policy, it could be described as a chase after incidents. The government repeated taking left turns and right turns according to different incoherent incidents such as the landmind explosion in the demilitarized zone (DMZ), an inter-Korean meeting of senior officials, propaganda broadcasting through loudspeakers, North Korea's missile launch, the president's attendance at China's Victory Day celebration, and the failed phone call with President Xi Jinping. There can be times when one engages in an emotional confrontation with the opponent, ending up with that dominating the situation. One may follow an unexpected issue and end up in a situation where she has no idea how she arrived at an unknown valley in the middle of a moonless night. Still, that cannot be an excuse for the president’s foreign policies, which opted for extemporaneous measures seeking only what was before one’s eyes, beat about the bush by chasing issue after issue, and sought shortcuts only to lose one's way. If she actually thought that a vision and strategy for peace was the practical guideline for foreign relations and security, she could have used them as a compass to find her way back even if she did get lost on the way. But there is no way back if she threw them away thinking them simply as a disposable formality or a decoration for the government.
A while back, there was a TV show that had people send young children on errands. They would give them some money and ask the children to go to a store to buy some stuff. Of course, obstacles and games came up on the way. On the way to the store, another shop owner would try to distract the child. There were quite a few children who forgot the purpose of their errand and returned after buying the wrong thing from that store they happened to stop by.
Here is a person who returned with strange rumors in one hand and melons in the other, when she was sent to bring peace. Perhaps she also forgot what her errand was.