| Submit your comments on this article |
| Axis of Evil |
| Roh Wants Bigger Say in Ties With U.S. |
| 2002-12-19 |
| President-elect Roh Moo-hyun came from a poor farming family, studied alone to pass the bar exam and built a reputation as a human rights lawyer during South Korea's past military rule. "I will try to become a president, not just for the people who supported me, but also for the people who opposed me in the election," the 55-year-old Roh said Thursday after election returns were announced. "I will try to open a new era for dialogue and reconciliation. Let's strive together to serve the people." Roh says he will be aggressive in reconciling with communist North Korea and striving for an "equal" relationship with South Korea's closest ally, the United States. "I don't have any anti-American sentiment, but I won't kowtow to the Americans, either," he said in a recent television debate. Tell ya what: you don't kowtow, and we won't pay any attention to you. Oh, and by the way: we need those troops you don't like for something more important... Roh, who has never traveled to the United States, accused South Korea's past presidents of "groveling" before U.S. leaders. His attitude toward America helped make him popular among young voters, who want to reduce South Korea's reliance on the United States, which fought with the South in the 1950-1953 Korean War. But that's all in the past, so it's time to move on... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #8 Ain't never going to happen. Next to the Israeli lobby in the States, comes, you guessed it, the Korean lobby especially if you are a SoCal congressman and conservative leaning. Next to the Cubans they are Repubs biggest ethnic supporters. |
| Posted by: Jack 2002-12-20 05:24:49 |
| #7 look its not like sk is irreplaceable.. we've got taiwan, japan, singapore, ... dead anti-american koreans is no skin off my back.. bring the boys home and let the koreans die.. ps can we do this to france? could we ferry the dprk to cannes?? |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2002-12-20 01:21:49 |
| #6 Forty years is enough time for people to forget why we went there in the first place and why we're still there. Biting the hand that feeds you is a pretty popular global activity. |
| Posted by: john 2002-12-19 18:52:34 |
| #5 An early christmas present, Rumsfeld just found 35,000 new well trained troops to deploy somewhere else more deserving of their attention. |
| Posted by: Frank Martin 2002-12-19 15:14:25 |
| #4 Crypto-commie. Apparently World Cup success got into the SK's heads, generating the current wave of nationalist fever (which makes their obvious & necessary dependence on us intolerable to contemplate). Totally bizarre. But we may all have to pay for it in the end. |
| Posted by: someone 2002-12-19 14:06:38 |
| #3 We're getting back into the Phillipines, slowly but surely. The S Kor Army will tolerate this sort of talk only for so long. |
| Posted by: Chuck 2002-12-19 13:17:35 |
| #2 I have a feeling the tough talk is partly nationalistic electioneering, and that he'll be less confrontational when he gets into office. Good relations with US is important, and the Bush team won't appreciate a regular dose of middle-digit salutes. However, I didn't think the Filipinos would kick us out, either, so I could be proved wrong. |
| Posted by: Mark Byron 2002-12-19 12:33:41 |
| #1 The phrase 'fight with the South; is ambiguous in an amusing way. An ignorant person or institution(or Reuters, Al Jazera, CNN, NPR or the faculty lounge at UC Berkeley) could infer that the US and South Korea were on opposite sides. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2002-12-19 11:45:26 |