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Captain Corea
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
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 Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2005 3:32 pm Post subject: Roh and his policies on NE Asia. |
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Is anybody else concerned about this?
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200503/200503220024.html
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Roh Hints at New East Asian Order
President Roh Moo-hyun said Tuesday the power structure in East Asia will shift depending on what choices Korea makes.
At a graduation ceremony of the Korea Third Military Academy on Tuesday, Roh said Korea's new role was of a stabilizer for peace and prosperity not just on the Korean Peninsula, but in East Asia as a whole. "Korea will calculate and cooperate if need be, and move forward with its proper authority and responsibility," he said.
His comments were being read as a pointed reference to the country's alliances with the U.S. and Japan rather than a mere statement of principle. Among core figures in the administration, there is growing dissatisfaction with U.S. and Japanese policies in East Asia, including North Korea.
A high-ranking government official said the East Asian order in which Korea plays one leg of the three-way alliance with the U.S. and Japan was a product of the Cold War. He said Korea could not be locked into such a framework forever. In other words, Korea wants to extract itself from a standoff centered on the Korean Peninsula between a ��southern alliance�� of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan and a ��northern alliance�� of North Korea, China and Russia.
Another high-ranking government official cautioned the president was not talking about breaking the Korea-U.S. alliance. But as tensions rise between the U.S. and Japan on one hand and China and North Korea on the other, Seoul will not be cornered into an exclusive alliance with Washington, he added.
He said the East Asian confrontation between three-way alliances needed to come to an end. President Roh believes the major East Asian powers need to move toward a multilateral security system based on the Korea-U.S. alliance and is asking the U.S. to play a positive role in this, he said. "The president believes that if the current situation is left as it is, it might lead to a new Cold War structure in East Asia," he said.
When Roh met with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday, he told his visitor that while the U.S. was in a position to view the development of a particular order in East Asia as a strategic tool, for Korea it was a matter of destiny. That amounted to asking Washington for an alliance that was inclusive, not exclusive, the official explained.
The official said Roh was deeply concerned that Japan is hostile to both China and North Korea and raising the level of tension. These concerns formed part of the background to President Roh��s new doctrine of Korea-Japan relations, he added.
President Roh��s address today can be seen as a warning that Seoul cannot be counted on if the U.S. and Japan insist on a strategy of pressure on China and North Korea. It was in an address to another graduation ceremony, of the Air Force Academy on March 8, that the president made clear his opposition to the deployment of the USFK in possible conflicts with China.
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honestly, the Marmot has been quiet of late so i'm wondering if any of you have thoughts on this.
Sometimes I suspect that Roh planned this "distance from the US" from the start. I honestly think he wants to take the original role of Korea trying to juggle the interests of the elephants around it.
Personally, although it doesn't sound in tune with what is going on politically, I think Park Geun-hye has it right with this comment.
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200503/23/200503232225161809900090309031.html
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South Korean links to U.S. called frayed
March 24, 2005 �� On her return from an eight-day trip to the United States, Park Geun-hye, chairwoman of Grand National Party, told reporters yesterday that relations between South Korea and the United States are far worse than Koreans imagine they are.
"I met various politicians," said Ms. Park. "If the mistrust that prevails among the politicians spreads to the general public of the United States, bilateral ties between the two countries will face greater problems."
Ms. Park had a meeting with U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to discuss the North Korean nuclear crisis, among other issues. She said a lack of cooperation between South Korea and the United States was the chief reason for the current stalemate in trying to end Pyongyang's nuclear weapons efforts.
"If the gap in South Korea-U.S. cooperation widens, the North Korea nuclear problem will only become tougher," said Ms. Park. She added that differences in actions taken and words spoken by the South Korean government have led to the erosion of trust between South Korea and the United States.
Ms. Park took the opportunity to criticize the government's "soft diplomacy" towards Pyongyang, saying it was the main reason the government has lost leverage over the North. North Korea now only wants to engage in direct talks with Washington, she said.
The Roh administration has followed a consistent line of what was called the "sunshine policy" developed under former President Kim Dae-jung in the late 1990s. The policy called for active engagement with leaders in Pyongyang. To Seoul's frustration, in recent months there has been almost no official contact between the governments.
Ms. Park also raised the issue of what President Roh Moo-hyun meant in a speech made at the Korea Third Military Academy on Tuesday in which the country's leader said that the South Korea-U.S. alliance would still serve as a basis but that South Korea would exercise its power as a sovereign state and take on a balancing role in regional security.
"I will have to find out what was really meant by those remarks, but considering that the South Korea-U.S. alliance is linked to the existence of the country I am worried," said Ms. Park.
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Saxiif
Joined: 15 May 2003
Location: Seongnam
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| Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2005 6:45 pm Post subject: |
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President Roh Moo-hyun said Tuesday the power structure in East Asia will shift depending on what choices Korea makes.
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 I think somebody's is overestimating Korea's power. |
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Guri Guy
Joined: 07 Sep 2003
Location: Bamboo Island
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| Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2005 11:59 pm Post subject: |
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I believe the expression is "the tail wagging the dog".  |
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sadsac
Joined: 22 Dec 2003
Location: Gwangwang
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| Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2005 1:38 am Post subject: |
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A typical, we are better than the rest attitude. It is extremely pervasive and starts from the top and filters into all elements of Korean society. I'm sure all the conscripts don't want to be part of Pax Koreana.  |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2005 5:26 am Post subject: |
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Roh has been saying all along that he wants a more independent foreign policy, but in this speech he went further than before. It is possible to read it as an abrogation of the alliance.
Last year during the Kogyureo is Chinese/No, it's Korean thing, there were a few newspaper articles about the embarrassment of some members of the administration because they had been pushing for an alliance with China.
Earlier this month Roh rejected a proposal from the US to transform the USFK into a broader military arrangement. And don't forget his speech in LA a few months ago.
On top of that, there are the things he's saying and doing vis a vis Japan. Diplomatic war, etc.
It's all pretty interesting. I think the thing to think about is this. What if Korea does break off the alliance with the US? The troops leave. Korea goes either neutral or pro-Chinese. Would it have any impact on the life of an ESLer? I don't think so. |
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