Dispatch Decision Due Next Month, National Interest is Top Priority

South Korea`s Foreign Minister Yoon Young-kwan said Wednesday that the national interests should be considered in priority for deciding whether to send troops to Iraq than anything else. Yoon, who is visiting New York to attend a meeting of the U.N. General Assembly, met Korean press correspondents on the day and said “The dispatch of troops to Iraq should be decided after carefully examining the international trend, including the costs, returns, justification, public sentiment, and whether its U.N. resolution has been adopted or not. Whichever the decision is reached, the government should explain its validity to those people who opposed to it.”

About the timing for the dispatch, Yoon said, “I hope the decision can be made in October.” “The decision should be made before the end of this year by the latest, even if it may get delayed to consider various factors.”

Asked about the ROK-U.S. relations, Yoon responded that “Our relations are a lot more stable now compared to 3 or 4 months ago.” In addition, when asked if U.S. President George W. Bush`s demand to adopt a weapons of mass destruction related resolution in his address in the U.N. would have negative effects on the future 6 way talks, Yoon said, “As we all know the U.S. has long been committed to halting the proliferation of WMDs, so I do not believe the situation will change in the near future.”

“U.S. believes North Korea is different to Iraq and their willingness to resolve North Korea`s nuclear crisis by dialogue,” Yoon emphasized. “The next 6 way-talks have not been yet decided and North Korea can suddenly change its position for various reasons.”

In the meantime, the multilateral foreign ministers talks, which were scheduled on September 25 with participating members of South Korea, the U.S., Japan, China, and Russia, were cancelled due to China and Russia`s little interest in the talks and Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi` return to Japan on September 24.

Kwan-Hee Hong konihong@donga.com