힐 "이대강연서 각별한 즐거움 느껴"

미국 백악관은 23일 자체 홈페이지에 힐러리 클린턴 국무장관이 방한기간 이화여대에서 여성의 권리 강화를 호소한 강연 문답내용을 사진과 함께 소개했다.

백악관이 버락 오바마 대통령과 부인 미셸 여사, 조 바이든 부통령 이외의 행정부 인사들의 소식을 자체 홈페이지에 소개하는 일은 매우 이례적인 일이다.

백악관 홈페이지는 클린턴 장관이 강연에서 "여성의 권리를 위해 우리는 늘 깨어 있어야 한다"고 한 발언을 제목으로 뽑고 그가 해맑게 웃는 이대생들을 배경으로이배용 이대총장, 윤후정 이대 이사장, 캐서린 스티븐스 주한 미대사와 함께 포즈를취하고 있는 사진을 실었다.

백악관은 크리스토퍼 힐 국무부 동아태 차관보가 클린턴 장관의 취임후 첫 아시아 순방을 국무부 홈페이지 블로그에 간단히 정리하며 게재한 사진을 가져다 쓰면서"힐 차관보가 올린 사진은 훌륭하다"고 평했다.

또 백악관은 이례적으로 힐 차관보의 국무부 홈페이지 블로그에 링크를 걸어놨다.

힐 차관보는 이 글에서 "두 딸을 가진 아버지이자 전직 주한 미대사 입장에서 이화여대에서 열린 타운홀식 강연에서 각별한 즐거움을 느꼈다"고 말했다.

힐 차관보는 "수 천명의 이대생들이 겨울방학 기간임에도 불구하고 나와서 클린턴 장관에게 장관직과 가정의 문제를 어떻게 균형있게 다뤄나가는지 물었다"면서 "한국의 미래 여성지도자들은 모든 분야에 걸친 클린턴 장관의 조언에 대해 분명히

감사했을 것"이라고 밝혔다.

힐 차관보는 일주일간에 걸친 일본, 인도네시아, 한국, 중국 순방이 힘든 여정이기는 하지만, 아시아에서 지켜본 엄청난 에너지와 자극에 감화돼 워싱턴으로 돌아가게 됐다"고 덧붙였다.

(워싱턴=연합뉴스)

 

Monday, February 23rd, 2009 at 2:00 pm

 

 

Secretary Clinton: “We have to remain vigilant on behalf of women’s rights”

 

Over at the State Department’s Dipnote blog, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Christopher R. Hill wraps up Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s trip to Asia discussing a town hall at Ewha University in Seoul. He describes the scene last week: "Thousands of students showed up -- despite the fact that they're on winter break -- to ask the Secretary everything from what her priorities were as Secretary of State to how she's managed to balance the demands of career and family."

 

The picture he posts is great:

 

 

Secretary Clinton gave an impassioned call to continue defending and advancing women’s rights around the world, condemning recent brutality in Afghanistan and elsewhere. During the Q&A session she had an interesting exchange about her role dealing with foreign leaders as a woman:

 

QUESTION: You spoke a lot about being a woman and how women are a necessity to the world right now. How has -- especially being a mother. How has it been dealing with other world leaders who aren’t as accepting of the role of women for example, in different countries who don’t really respect women? How has that been trying to get them to cooperate with you as a female yourself?

 

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I don’t feel like I’ve had any problems either as a senator or in my short tenure as Secretary of State, because I hold an official position and I represent the -- in the first case, the United States Senate, or in this case, as the representative of the United States. So there is a funny kind of difference that sometimes goes on in some countries that are not particularly supportive of women in official positions. I think they just kind of ignore the fact that they’re dealing with someone who’s a woman. That seems to be almost a change that goes on in their mind.

 

So I don’t have any problems with that, but I do believe that it’s important for someone in my position to raise the role of women on an ongoing basis, even in countries where women are not given full and equal rights. So I don’t think it’s enough that people deal with me; I want them to deal with their own women, I want them to think about giving all women the rights to be fully functioning, productive citizens. So that is part of the mission that I feel I carry as the Secretary of State of the United States, and that’s what I intend to promote as I travel around the world talking about a lot of these important matters that are really at the core of the kind of future we’re going to have for ourselves and our children. (Applause