Foreign Affairs Minister Says “Final Discussion Will Be Made After Collecting Public Opinion”

Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Yoon Young-kwan said yesterday, “The instructions regarding the troop deployment presented by President Roh Moo-hyun during the security meeting on November 11 is not actually in its final stages.” Yoon mentioned that the term “flexibility” is in the message, and the government is currently on its way to making a final decision.

The Foreign Affairs and Trade minister explained in a press conference, “President Roh’s guidelines imply that the final decision should be based on the nation’s public opinion and further talks with the United States, so both the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT) and the Ministry of National Defense need to do their best to take those factors into account.”

Concerning the question of whether MOFAT’s opinion was reflected in the president’s guidelines, Yoon replied, “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Defense are sending reports to the president as often as they are required. Since troop deployment is a critical subject, the two Ministries continue to support the President so that a correct and unbiased determination can be reached.”

Regarding the debates over troop deployment, Yoon said, “Opinions on troop deployment have begun to coalesce.” He commented that it is not necessary to pay such serious attention to every press release reporting each ministry’s announcements.

The Foreign Affairs Minister also added, “(President Roh) has made careful judgments on foreign affairs until now, and I am confident that he will do the same in the future.”

Young-Sik Kim spear@donga.com