Rice Visited Korea Yesterday

U.S. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice visited Korea on Friday as U.S. President George W. Bush’s special envoy to meet President Roh Moo-hyun and to convey a personal letter from Bush.

Rice, at Cheong Wa Dae on Friday afternoon, said, “President Bush wrote this letter personally and asked me to deliver it to President Roh. In this letter, President Bush gave an outline of his ideas about the importance of Korean-American relations.”

It is known that President Bush said in his letter, “I mourn over the murder of Kim Sun-il, an employee of Gana Trading Company, by Iraqi militants,” and emphasized a strong alliance between Korea and the U.S.

After receiving the letter, President Roh said, “I have always kept my friendly opinion of President Bush. I think President Bush, being energetic and optimistic, seems to have a good character that hardly feels tired or resigned under any circumstance.”

Prior to the meeting with President Roh, Rice met with National Security Advisor Kwon Jin-ho and said, “President Bush wanted me to visit Korea and reaffirm that Korean-American relations are very important and essential.” Rice also met Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon and discussed major issues including the North Korean nuclear issue, the reduction of the U.S. Forces in Korea, and the additional Korean troop dispatch to Iraq. Rice returned to the U.S. on Friday evening after finishing her trip to the three East Asian countries: Korea, China, and Japan.

Jung-Hun Kim jnghn@donga.com