Shameless

John Bolton:

In July 2003, Bolton attracted widespread attention with a speech in South Korea in which he leveled repeated personal attacks on North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il. Some U.S. diplomats feared the speech would lead North Korea to pull out of international talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

In testimony last week, Bolton implied that Thomas Hubbard, the former U.S. ambassador to South Korea, approved in advance of the speech and that he thanked Bolton for his comments afterward.

But Hubbard, a career diplomat who was Bush's ambassador to South Korea from 2001 to 2004, contradicted Bolton, saying in an interview that he did not express gratitude for the speech and disapproved of it.

"I didn't approve personally of the tone of the speech, and had urged him to tone it down," said Hubbard, who has now retired from the foreign service.

Bolton testified that the night before the speech, Hubbard "reviewed it one last time and made a few more changes." After the speech, Bolton testified that Hubbard praised him.

"And I can tell you what our ambassador to South Korea, Tom Hubbard, said after the speech," Bolton said under questioning by Sen. Lincoln Chafee, R-R.I. "He said: 'Thanks a lot for that speech, John, it will help us a lot out here.' "

Hubbard disputed Bolton's testimony.

Before the speech, Hubbard said he had urged Bolton and his staff "to tone it down, on grounds that it would be counterproductive to getting the North Koreans to the negotiating table."

But, "He rejected that suggestion," Hubbard said.

He said Bolton did agree to accept some recommendations on factual errors, and on "some phrases that I thought would be taken badly or misunderstood by the South Koreans." When he offered thanks, it was for those changes, Hubbard said."

It's a gross exaggeration to elevate that to praise for the entire speech, and approval of it," Hubbard added.

Hubbard, who earlier had served as U.S. ambassador to the Philippines during the Clinton administration, said he had spoken with several senators and Senate staff members to set the record straight about his views on the Bolton address. His disagreement with Bolton's testimony was first reported this week on Newsweek's Web site.