Roh Gets Assurances on Major Issues from Bush

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, May 16, 2003

Roh Gets Assurances on Major Issues from Bush

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun got assurances on major issues from his first face-to-face talks with US President George W. Bush Wednesday.

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South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun got assurances on major issues from his first face-to-face talks with US President George W. Bush Wednesday.

He also moved bilateral relations, especially in the economic sector, closer after the talks.

On the issue of US troops in South Korea, a joint statement issued at the end of the summit said US President Bush reaffirmed US commitment to "a robust forward presence."

The US president also pledged to "consult closely with President Roh" on the appropriate posture for US forces in South Korea during the transition to "a more capable and sustainable US military presence on the peninsula."

The two leaders noted the opportunity provided by South Korea'sgrowing national strength to continue expanding "the role of the country's armed forces in defending the Korean Peninsula."

Thus the joint statement eased some worries over the redeployment of the US troops in South Korea.

The South Koreans had long been unhappy about the 37,000 US troops in their country. The resentment was culminated in a national anti-American protest after a US vehicle ran over two school girls last June. The protest lasted for months and Roh criticized the US military presence and the unbalanced nature of the alliance with the United States in his election campaign last year.

However, as the nuclear issue between the United States and theDemocratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) escalated, people became more concerned about the security of the country and conservatives organized large scale rallies opposing the withdrawal of the US troops and calling for "solidification of thetraditional alliance with the United States."

After reports came that Washington wanted to pull back more than 15,000 troops with the 2nd Infantry Division from the demilitarized zone (DMZ), Roh, who once signed a petition calling for the withdrawal of US troops from the country, said, "Now, we desperately need the US forces in South Korea."

According to the joint statement, they reiterated their commitment "to work for the complete, verifiable and irreversible elimination" of nuclear weapons in the peninsular "through peaceful means based on international cooperation."

Roh Moo-hyun has repeated several times his government's stanceon the issue, namely "not allowing the DPRK to possess and use nuclear weapons, solving the crisis peacefully through dialogue." He is opposed to any US military action against the DPRK, saying "such action would lead to a full-scale war on the Korean Peninsula."

The two leaders pledged to work together to promote the common values of democracy, human rights and market economy and to build "a comprehensive and dynamic alliance relationship."

According to the joint statement, they expressed a desire for enhanced bilateral economic cooperation and reaffirmed their commitment to resolving bilateral trade issues through consultation, and agreed to explore ways to further strengthen thealready close economic and trade partnership.

"We have reached an agreement that the South Korea-US alliance has been maintained over the past 50 years and it will become morestrengthened over the next 50 years and even more," the South Korean president said in the White House Rose Garden after the summit.

The personal relations between the two leaders also appeared closer after the summit. "We have reached agreement on many national agenda issues, but more important, we have come to trust each other and have confidence in each other," Roh said.

Roh Moo-hyun said during his campaign that he would not automatically fall in behind US policies and would not "kowtow" toit.

But he has talked about the importance of and made efforts to strengthen the relations with the United States since he took office on Feb. 25. He had several telephone talks with Bush and expected such dialogue would make the Korea-US ties closer and stronger. He supported the US-led war against Iraq and decided to send about 700 non-combat troops to Iraq amid strong public opposition.

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