The Korea Herald has an analysis piece by the Sejong Institute’s Paik Hak-soon on how the Uri Party’s general election victory may strain the relationship between Seoul and Washington. Here’s some of it:
It is too early to tell, but one thing is clear: the Roh government will face very serious demands to cancel or adjust the deployment of troops to Iraq, or to reconsider its policies toward North Korea and the U.S., from liberal and nationalistic civic groups, the Democratic Labor Party, and from the more liberal and nationalistic elements in the Uri Party.
It appears particularly so because President Roh’s choice to strengthen South Korea-U.S. alliance cooperation and put less emphasis on improving inter-Korean relations, under the pretext of the urgency and importance of solving the North Korean nuclear crisis, was considered by many of his supporters to betray the popular mandate offered to him in the presidential election. This move split his support base in South Korea and distanced North Korea to a significant degree.
Read the rest on your own.
