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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, May 12, 2003

Roh Moo-hyun Shoulders 3 Main Tasks in US Visit

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun left Seoul Sunday for the United States on his first foreign trip since coming to power with three important goals.


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Roh Moo-hyun Shoulders 3 Main Tasks in US Visit
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun left Seoul Sunday for the United States on his first foreign trip since coming to power with three important goals.

The most conspicuous highlight of the new president's schedule during his US visit is his summit meeting with President George W.Bush after which they will release a joint statement.

Three main tasks are in his pockets which are all related to South Korean national interests: the settlement of Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s nuclear issue, the readjustment of South Korean-US military alliance and the enhancement of bilateral economic cooperation.

Roh's visit to the United States came as concerned countries are stepping up diplomatic efforts to defuse the tension over the DPRK nuclear issue. The United States, DPRK and China just concluded a closed-door three-day meeting on the nuclear issue late April in Beijing.

Roh and Bush will certainly exchange views on their further responses to the trilateral meeting, which was the first of its kind since the DPRK nuclear standoff surfaced late last year.

The DPRK claimed that during the talks its delegate put forth a"new bold proposal" concerning the settlement of the nuclear dispute among Washington, Pyongyang and other involved countries.

According to Roh's Foreign Policy Advisor Ban Ki-moon, the two leaders will, in their joint statement, reiterate their wish to maintain close bilateral cooperation to seek a peaceful end to thenuclear row, while insisting that the DPRK abandon its nuclear weapon program.

However, rather than a detailed document, the statement will probably be a "framework" guiding subsequent policy consultations between Washington and Seoul on the nuclear issue, said Ban recently.

And Roh's cabinet hopes that such nuclear talks as the Beijing meeting would continue, and South Korea could get a seat at the negotiating table in due course.

Since last October, South Korea has been trying to play a mediating role between Washington and Pyongyang, and has taken advantage of the inter-Korean channel to persuade DPRK to abandon its nuclear weapon program and go back to negotiating table.

The South Korean president also planned to seek Bush's support for his "peace and prosperity policy" toward DPRK, which is widelyseen as the same thing as former President Kim Dae-jung's "Sunshine Policy" on DPRK.

Meanwhile, the joint statement to be released is also expected to mention Washington's plans to reorganize the US Forces Korea (USFK), which has already been discussed by the two allies.

To set a foundation for more mature and equal relations with the United States is the second task of Roh's current trip, which coincides with the 50th anniversary of South Korea-US alliance andrealignment of US troops in the Asian country.

A month ago, military officials of the two countries agreed that the South Korea forces will shoulder more defense responsibility in future and the USFK's headquarters at Yongsan Base in central Seoul is to be moved out to some other place as soon as possible.

Moreover, the two sides vowed to continue consultations on overall redeployment of the 37,000 US troops stationed here, especially on the relocation of the US 2nd Infantry Division quartered at the demilitarized zone on the Korean Peninsula.

The agreement aroused panic and worries among local residents and government officials who feared the moving of the 2nd InfantryDivision may weaken the deterrence against DPRK.

Three days ago, Roh ordered the country's military to adapt to the change of South Korea-US military alliance and strengthen self-defense capability in wake of such a change.

In his meeting with Bush, Roh Moo-hyun will drive home his country's position that relocation of the US troops closest to themilitary demarcation line which divides South Korea and DPRK must be dealt with cautiously, considering the security situation on the Korean Peninsula, especially before the DPRK nuclear issue is solved.

But just a few months ago, anti-American sentiment prevailed nationwide in South Korea after a US martial court acquitted two US soldiers whose armed vehicle rolled two local schoolgirls to death.

It was in such an anti-US mood that Roh Moo-hyun, a former human rights lawyer who had called for equal bilateral ties between South Korea and the United States, was elected as the country's new leader last December.

However, apparently in order to repair the Seoul-Washington alliance, South Korea became one of the several nations who voicedclearly support to the US-led war against Iraq and sent non-combattroops to Iraq.

In addition to economic-related officials, 31 business leaders are also included in Roh's large delegation, which indicates the last goal of Roh's US visit -- to promote bilateral economic cooperation.

To allure more foreign direct investment (FDI) now is the SouthKorean government's top economic priority when the country's economy is impacted by several negative domestic and alien factors.

Roh had only been in office for two weeks when it was revealed that SK Global, an affiliate of South Korea's third-biggest business group SK Group, had misstated its 2001 profit by 1.25 billion US dollars which hit the Seoul stock market severely in the whole March.

The rising price of oil due to the Iraq war and the jitters over the spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in local business circle have made the economic situation worse in the country.

The central bank, Band of Korea, revised down twice the economygrowth forecast of the South Korea for 2003 from the original 5.7 percent to 3.8-3.9 percent.

Considering all this and the fact that US companies accounted for a large share of South Korea's FDI and the world biggest economy is South Korea's second largest export market after China,it's only natural that Roh Moo-hyun desperately wants to take advantage of the trip to bring more business opportunities for hiscountry.


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