Korea 'Not Opposed' To U.S. Missile Plan

Backing away from controversy, the South Korean government will express next week its understanding of the U.S. position on national missile defense, officials said Friday.

This week's joint statement by President Kim Dae-jung and President Vladimir Putin of Russia, describing the 1972 anti-ballistic missile treaty as "a cornerstone of strategic stability," was widely interpreted as a move by Seoul toward Moscow's position on the American missile-shield plan.

"The NMD issue will be included in the coming Seoul-Washington summit on March 7 in Washington," a senior Blue House official told reporters. "It is clear that our government is not opposed to the United States' plan for the national missile defense system."

The official's remarks were echoed by Foreign Minister Lee Joung-binn who said, "As today's global security environment is different from the one in the Cold War era, a different approach is required."

Mr. Lee told reporters, "We have faith in the U.S. president's leadership in pursuing and developing the new approach."

Russia and China have been steadfastly opposed to the missile-defense system, arguing that it violates the ABM treaty, which outlaws full-scale missile defense.

Seoul has never officially taken a position on the issue. Mr. Lee said recently that the United States had never asked it to do so.

But a senior official Friday linked the South's "rather ambiguous" past position to inter-Korean considerations. Washington has justified its missile shield as a protection against attacks by "rogue" nations, such as North Korea.

"We can't support Washington's NMD system that designates Pyongyang as rogue nation just as we are planning the second inter-Korean summit," the official said. "At the same time, we can't oppose our ally when countries like Russia are slightly changing their stern position, agreeing to have talks with the United States."

by Kim Jin-kook