Well, President Roh said there’s no problem in the Korea-U.S. alliance, but Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon admits there’s a “perception gap” between the two allies:
Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon on Friday admitted to “perception gaps” between the Korean and American people. The chief diplomat was speaking at a forum by a group of veteran journalists at the Korea Press Center about the planned bilateral summit on Sept. 14. “Once created, such perception gaps are hard to dispel,” Ban said. “No matter how hard we try to explain in words, in writing or via official briefings, they are difficult to remove and we must urgently get rid of them first.”
You don’t say.
Discussing the always exciting operational command transfer issue, Ban denied Korea’s move to reassume operational control was an attempt to North Korea to accept an intra-Korean summit, but he did say the move would be good for building peace on the peninsula:
Ban denied the government’s plan to exercise sole troop control was “a strategic move to create a favorable environment for the next inter-Korean summit.” But he added, “When we withdraw wartime operational control of our troops from the U.S., it will contribute to creating a positive environment where we can discuss a peace framework on the peninsula” with the North.
Good luck with that. The Chosun Ilbo, meanwhile, was apoplectic:
An artificial deadline for the handover risks creating the impression in the U.S. that the alliance is useless, the report says. In the absence of assured trust, the handover “could be regarded as a virtual dissolution of the alliance.” The report accurately predicts the present situation, where the U.S. is thinking about withdrawing its forces from Korea, shifting from an assessment that the North Korean military threat is clear, present and enduring to U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s remark this week that there isn’t much of a threat at all. But the presidential security advisor assures us the USFK will stay and the Korea-U.S. alliance will not crack.
Forty-eight million South Koreans have entrusted their country to a bunch of lunatics who play football with its security.
They didn’t actually use the word “lunatic,” but they were angry nonetheless.
Ban also said that Seoul was mapping out a plan to deal with a potential North Korean nuclear test. The foreign minister did not specify, however, how much KY Jelly the South Korean response would require.
5 Comments
irregardless of “perception gaps” Rok has to step up to the plate sooner or later.. better it be sooner and be prepared than to be caught with your pants down later.
ultimately, you and only you are responsible for your destiny.
While the South Korean Government is busy trying to effect an American “withdrawl”, the Japanese are busy considering rewritting their constitution. Per Shinzo Abe’s comments:
This sounds as if it were from the halls of Badukian splendor indeed. I wonder how the Korean Government will perceive this since the Japanese, too, are seriously considering removing the traces of American influence from their government since their constitution “was drafted by American officials during the postwar occupation”.
Bend over. I promise this won’t hurt at all.
“Ban also said that Seoul was mapping out a plan to deal with a potential North Korean nuclear test.”
No need to make a new one, just re-use the one from the missile tests-attack Japan for getting pissed at NK and say the tests were more of a failure for the US. Perhaps they could just switch it around, attack the US for getting pissed and say the tests were more of a failure for Japan. There. All worked out. Oh, and after a short pause, resume sending mountains of unmonitored free goodies to KJI.
Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon on Friday told the Kwanhun Club, an organization of veteran journalists, “When we withdraw wartime operational control of our troops from the U.S., it will contribute to creating a positive environment where we can discuss a peace framework on the peninsula” with North Korea. That, he said, would pull the rug out from Pyongyang’s “persistent propaganda that it cannot negotiate a peace framework with a South Korea that doesn’t even exercise operational control of its troops.” The same assertion is made in a report on the issue Cheong Wa Dae provides on its website.
http://english.chosun.com/w21d.....10035.html
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It doesn’t sound insane; it is insane. In his dellusional state of mind, Roh actually believes (like that stupid filmmaker Bong) that US and Japan are the problem here, and Kim Jung-Il is his long lost cousin. I really really, actually think he actually believes this.
I know it sounds insane, but Liberals are always like this.