Roh reverses call to trim armed forces

President-elect Roh Moo-hyun repeated yesterday a call for Korean self-sufficiency in defense. "Senior military officials should be prepared for emergencies involving the withdrawal of U.S. forces," he told the Seoul International Forum. He had called on Dec. 30 for the military to begin planning for that contingency.

"Someone should be thinking about self-sufficiency," he said, "even if it takes 10, 20 or 30 years." He asked rhetorically if Seoul-Washington relations were the only factor that would trigger a reduction of U.S. forces here, but did not elaborate.

Korea's next president said that during the election campaign, he had called for a reduction in Seoul's military capabilities, but has changed his mind. "I believe the size of our military force should be reduced, but our military capacity must be strengthened," he said. He called for an upgrade of the military's information technology and qualitative improvements in weapons systems, saying he favors more spending in those areas.

Mr. Roh repeated that he would not tolerate North Korea's possession of nuclear weapons and spoke of the disaster that nuclear war would inflict on the peninsula. "My conviction that North Korea's nuclear program can be resolved is based on the belief that the North would not opt for suicide," he said.

On other issues, Mr. Roh said he would not permit the National Intelligence Service to spy on politicians here. He said the agency should step up its foreign intelligence-gathering and called for an upgrade of the nation's National Security Council, a Blue House panel.

Asked about the candlelight demonstrations to protest the deaths of two teenage girls by a U.S. armored vehicle last summer, Mr. Roh said that groups inciting anti-U.S. sentiment and the government are now competing to win popular support here. Speaking of those decrying the U.S. presence here, Mr. Roh said, "I am one of the few people who can tell them to control themselves."

Mr. Roh blamed the press for distorting and exaggerating remarks that had led some people to call him leftist and unstable.

by Choi Hoon