President Roh Supports U.S.-led War against Iraq

President Roh Moo-hyun addressed the nation on Thursday afternoon right after the U.S. began strikes on Iraq. In his address, he repeatedly expressed support for the U.S.` war on Iraq, saying, "Now that all the diplomatic efforts to resolve the Iraqi issue in a peaceful manner had gone down the drain, I think, the action taken by the international community including the U.S. was inevitable to disarm Iraq of its weapons of destruction as soon as possible."

"I know that there is strong opposition to the war, but after considering trends in the international community, prevention of the spread of weapons of mass destruction, and the importance of the Korean-the U.S. alliance, I decided that supporting the U.S.` war efforts is in the interest of the nation," he said.

He also stressed that the Korean government would provide the U.S. and the international community with what they need and that it would do its utmost to make diplomatic efforts for this war not to have a bad impact on pending inter-Korean issues including the North Korea nuclear issue.

Earlier, at a National Security Council (NSC) meeting, the president decided to send a battalion of between 500 and 600 engineers and about 150 military medical staff to the war zone, according to National Security Advisor Ra Jong-yil. Mr. Ra also said the government was considering providing $5 million to $10 million in humanitarian assistance. According to Ra, the government is not considering dispatching combat troops at present and the dispatch of military engineers and medical staff will be made within 7 to 11 weeks.

Meanwhile, President Roh received an advance notice of the U.S. war from U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney at 8: 50 a.m. Thursday by phone, two hours and forty minutes before the start of the U.S.- led war.

Jeong-Hun Kim jnghn@donga.com