Washingtons Stance on Seouls Crisis
Washington avoided comment on the impeachment of South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun Friday.
The impeachment issue should only be addressed by the Korean people themselves, White House spokesperson Scott McClellan said. I wouldnt like to comment on South Korean domestic political issues by saying that both the Korean government and its citizens will have to resolve this crisis, said U.S. State Department spokesperson Richard Boucher.
Ru Jen Chao, the Chinese Foreign Ministry secretary, issued a statement saying the impeachment is an internal affair of Seouls. He also added that Beijing expected this difficult political situation to be stabilized.
Meanwhile, leading international media outlets expressed great concern over the ideological split in Korea.
Korea and the U.S. will continue to cooperate with each other on some issues, including the North Korean nuclear problem and South Koreas troop dispatch to Iraq, and U.S Secretary of State Collin Powell and South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Ban Ki-moon agreed with each other on this issue in a call, he added.
The New York Times reported Saturday that most Korean people are deeply concerned about mounting conflicts between the conservatives and Mr. Rohs supporters.
The Washington Post also carried an article with the headline Jubilation, Rage in South Korea that discussed the ideological rift in Korean society.
The impeachment of a South Korean president is the result of the vested interests and Mr. Rohs reformist government, Japanese Sankei newspaper said in a front-page news story.
On good terms, Mr. Rohs politics are an idealism towards social reform for the weak, but on bad terms they are a means to take revenge for his personal complexes, it said. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun said that it hoped the South Korean political situation would be stabilized as soon as possible, citing the possibility of a military conflict with North Korea.
Soon-Taek Kwon Won-Jae Park maypole@donga.com parkwj@donga.com
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