National Assembly Passed Troop Dispatch Bill

South Korea`s National Assembly passed a much-debated bill on April 2 on sending non-combat forces to support the U.S.-led military campaign in Iraq. The vote count was 179 in favor, 68 against and 9 abstentions with 256 out of 270 legislators` casting votes.

Under the bill, the government will sends about 600 military engineers and 100 medics to Iraq to participate in restoration operations and medical services before and after the war.

As a result of the Wednesday`s vote, the defense ministry is planning to dispatch some 600 military engineers by the end of this month after necessary preparations for the dispatch, such as forming military units to send and trainings for field adaptation. And then, it is expected to dispatch around 100 medics to Iraq about the middle of next month. The total number of Korean non-combat troops and medics is around 700.

In the morning before the parliamentary vote, President Roh Moo-hyun delivered his speech in the National Assembly. In the speech, he appealed for lawmakers` support for the troop dispatch bill by saying, “I have concluded that it is desirable to maintain the Korea-U.S. military alliance by helping the U.S. that is now in a difficult situation, instead of further aggravating the bilateral ties by showing Korea`s uncooperative stance toward the war in Iraq. By doing so, we can find out a peaceful solution to the North Korea`s nuclear threat.”

“I am a politician who respects reasonable cause. However, in this time, I decided to send non-combat Korean troops to support the U.S.-led war on Iraq for the sake of national interests and because I am responsible for preventing war from breaking out on the Korean Peninsular. I believe that the fate of our nation will be determined by your votes on the bill. So I hope that you will cast your votes in accordance with your conviction,” he added.

President Roh Moo-hyun said he would allow a majority party or coalition to form the Cabinet after the April 2004 general elections if the National Assembly introduces measures banning any political party from sweeping two thirds of parliamentary seats in specific regions. He asked the ruling and opposition lawmakers to work out a revision bill to the current election law through negotiations.

The President also promised that his government would not use powerful government agencies, such as the National Intelligence Service, the prosecution, the national police agency, and the national tax service, as a political tool to maintain power. He would not allow those powerful agencies to carry out wiretappings and tax probes against opposition lawmakers with political consideration.

On the press, President Roh insisted, “The press is unrestrained power and which is dangerous. Even after the era of the authoritarian military government ended, some factional media outlets have tried to persecute former president Kim Dae-jung and his `people`s government`, including incumbent president Roh Moo-hyun.”

On the economic front, “I will gradually carry out a market opening plan for 3 years from now on and try to give more preparation time for Korean businesses to adapt themselves to changed business environment,” he promised.

He also made it clear that he would not take short-term economic stimulus measures even if the Korean economy faces difficulties.

Yeon-Wook Jeong-Hun Kim Jung jyw11@donga.com jnghn@donga.com