Ambassador Yang offers explanation

Korean Ambassador to Washington Yang Sung-Chul has sent a note of explanation to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade regarding the controversies he touched off in recent press interviews on the Status of U. S. Forces Agreement (SOFA) pact between Korea and the United States and the Nogeun-ri incident, ministry sources said Monday.

Earlier, a local daily quoted the ambassador as suggesting that such issues as environmental pollution, labor conditions and quarantine procedures may be dealt with in a supplementary document to the Korea-U.S. mutual defense treaty if it becomes difficult to incorporate them into the status of forces accord. He cited the case of Japan, which has a separate document under its bilateral defense treaty with the United States. In his explanation, Yang stated that the alternative measure was mentioned simply as one example and he did not mean to signify a change in the position of the Seoul government in favor of the measure.

The envoy also made it clear that he meant to indicate that the Nogeun-ri incident was localized and not a systematic and premeditated massacre. "I did not say it happened by chance," he added.

Foreign ministry officials here denied any change in the government's stance on all relevant subjects presented, including criminal jurisdiction and environment and labor relations, and its intention to discuss these matters with Washington and include them in a future revised SOFA. Yang must have been confused when he referred to the mutual defense treaty in that connection, they said.

spear@donga.com