First U.S. Presidential Candidate Televised Debate

On September 30, at 9:00 p.m. (local time) at the University of Miami Convocation Center in Florida, a highlight of the U.S. presidential campaign preceding the election on November 2 took place with George W. Bush and his Democratic Party challenger John Kerry as they held their first 90-minute televised debate.

In discussing homeland security, Kerry insisted, “While he[Bush] has been diverted, with nine out of 10 active duty divisions of our army either going to Iraq, coming back from Iraq, or getting ready to go, for two years, this administration didn‘t talk at all to North Korea. And today, there are four to seven nuclear weapons in the hands of North Korea.”

Kerry emphasized that if he were to be elected president, he would advocate bilateral talks with North Korea, which would “put all of the issues, such as the 1953 Armistice Agreement, the economic and human rights issues, the DMZ issues, and the nuclear issues, on the table.”

Bush responded, “Before I was sworn in, the policy of this government was to have bilateral negotiations with North Korea. And we signed an agreement with North Korea that my administration found out was not being honored by the North Koreans,” and went on to retort, “The minute we have bilateral talks, the six-party talks will unwind. That‘s exactly what Kim Jong-il wants.”

“Nuclear proliferation is the single most serious threat to the national security of the United States,” Kerry accentuated, and stressed the importance of North Korean policies as well as nuclear issues, regarding U.S. foreign policies, by saying, “Iran and North Korea are now more dangerous [than Iraq].”

On the Iraqi war, Kerry assailed his opponent, stating that the war was based on mistaken premises, and that if he were chosen president, he would fortify cooperation with allies and successfully fight against the battle of terrorism.

Bush argued back, “I don‘t see how you can lead this country to succeed in Iraq if you say ‘wrong war, wrong time, wrong place,’” and declared, “The world is safer without Saddam Hussein.”

Soon-Taek Kwon Young-Sik Kim maypole@donga.com spear@donga.com