Agreed to Form Consultative Body to Comprehensively Discuss North Korean Nuclear Issue

It has been known that on Feb. 4 during a meeting with U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, the president-elect Roh Moo-hyun`s delegation to the U.S. had agreed to form a task force team composed of high-raking officials from Korea and the U.S. in Washington within the month to comprehensively deal with the North Korean nuclear issue.

A senior official at the president-elect`s government transition team hinted that chances are after the president-elect taking office on Feb.25, the Korea-U.S. high-level task force team can be evolved into a standing consultation body between presidential aides for national security at Chung Wa Dae and national security aides to the U.S. president and the U.S. National Security Counsel.

The official also added, “The two sides shared the view on operating the envisaged task force team before the president-elect takes office, as the nuclear standoff between the U.S. and North Korea is getting worse.”

Yoon Young-kwan, a member of the U.S. delegation and a member of the foreign relations, unification and national security subcommittee at the transition committee, also said with respect to the formation of the task force team, “The two sides acknowledged the need of a bilateral consultative body to discuss the North Korean nuclear issue comprehensively.”

As a result, the Roh Moo-hyun`s camp is planning to select two or three Korean representatives, who will be stationed in Washington.

Steve Hedley, Assistant aide for national security at the White House, and Michael Green, deputy director for the Asian Affairs at the U.S. National Security Council are mentioned as strongest candidates for the U.S. representative of the task force team. Meanwhile, some names are mentioned as candidates for the Korean representative of the special team, including Moon Jung-in, a professor at Yonsei University.

Mr. Yoon also said that President-elect Roh Moo-hyun and U.S. President George Bush had agreed to form a join consultative organization of people from private and government agencies both in Korea and in the U.S. to work out a blue print for the future relationship between the two nations, as this year marks the 50th anniversary of the Korea-U.S. alliance.

The formation of a joint consultative body was agreed at the request of the Roh`s camp and it has been known ambitious young people in their 20s and 30s from Korea and the U.S. are expected to participate in the joint organization to prepare for a “future-oriented Korea-U.S. relationship.”

Hyung-gwon Pu bookum90@donga.com