Rohs Worries Grow as Term Nears End
I feel my term has virtually ended. It seems that people do not listen to me. said President Roh.
It was known that on August 18 that he expressed frustration in dealing with national affairs when he had a luncheon with executives of the press at Cheong Wa Dae on August 13.
He had a luncheon with six columnists on security and foreign affairs for four major daily newspapers including The Hankook Ilbo, The Kyunghyang Shinmun, The Seoul Shinmun, and The Hankyoreh Shinmun. Participants were chosen by the presidential secretary office for Unification, Foreign and Security Policy and the luncheon lasted for two hours. Those columnists didnt write an article about president Rohs remarks but the Munhwa Ilbo reported his comments.
Recently Im worried about my approval ratings, said Roh, hinting that he feels like a lame duck.
Roh said, Amid mounting criticism surrounding the issue of transfer of wartime operational control, I suggested to a state think-tank that anyone write about it and nobody volunteered. I think it will be difficult to go ahead with reform policies. I will focus on existing policies.
He spoke his mind, saying, I carried out a number of reform measures and I will maintain a healthy system to ensure my successor to start in a good condition. But sometimes I want that the next administration might have to deal with a mess.
He also said, I have not been too worried about my approval ratings but I do worry now. I dont know what went wrong. The issue such as gift coupon of adult gambling arcade is not something that Cheong Wa Dae should be directly engaged in.
He then added, I heard that my rating is 19%. It is actually better than the former president Kims 16%.
In regard to the stalemate of the six-party talks, he said, I cant do anything about it. I feel helpless.
He said that North Korea is extremely stubborn and his government has not enough intelligence on the North and rational judgment on the North often goes off the mark.
His analysis on China was that China does not take the Norths nuclear arsenal seriously and consider its nuclear technologies crude.
Regarding North Korea, he said, When it comes to the dialogue with the North, an official route works the best. We havent achieved much in unofficial dialogues. Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok is the most reliable access to the North.
He also expressed his opinion about U.S. President Bush, saying, Personally, he likes me. When it comes to Japan, he expressed his frustration saying, The country creates non-existent threats and take advantage of them.
A contingency plan on North Korea, dubbed 5029, has to be revised. In regard to the issue of transfer of wartime operational control, he said, We already discussed the issue with my U.S. counterpart. The current controversy was triggered by the conservative press offensive based on new logic different from ten years ago. We have no problem if we are given back wartime military command.
When he spoke about a contingency plan dubbed 5029 in case of internal turmoil in North Korea, he said, In case of an emergency related to North Korea, it is possible that the U.S. and China could act without consulting with South Korea, hinting that he wants a revision.
He explained, 5029 says the U.S. deploys its troops in North Korea. But thats not what China wants.
On the issue of the Korea-U.S. FTA, he said, 25 countries wanted to sign an FTA with the U.S. and the U.S. selected Korea.
jyw11@donga.com
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