Busy day for Roh in New York

NEW YORK ― President Roh Moo-hyun’s first full day in the United States Monday was a multi-tasker. He visited Ground Zero, the epicenter of the 2001 terrorist attacks, rang the bell at the New York Stock Exchange, lunched with Wall Street figures and dined with movers and shakers.
Speaking at a dinner meeting hosted by the Korea Society at the Pierre Hotel in New York, Mr. Roh sought to dispel fears that his pro-labor background would make Korea an unattractive place for foreign investment.
“Korean workers in the near future will have labor rights on a par with international standards,” he said, “but they also have to respect their obligations. I will guarantee an international level of labor flexibility in Korea.”
With an eye to Wednesday’s meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush, Mr. Roh reiterated that South Korea will not tolerate North Korea’s nuclear capability.
“But it is a problem that should be solved peacefully, and Seoul and Washington are working closely based on that shared understanding and principle,” he said.
Mr. Roh, who has promised to pursue his predecessor’s policy of engagement with Communist North Korea, added: “If North Korea gives up nuclear development and opens up, we and the international community will provide necessary assistance and cooperation.”
Before the dinner, Mr. Roh met with Robert Rubin, chairman of Citigroup Inc., and other leading financial-industry figures at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, where he is staying. He said Seoul would continue with reforms undertaken by former President Kim Dae-jung.
“We will parallel further deregulation and privatization and further labor flexibility,” he asserted. “By adopting class-action lawsuits and strengthening auditing regulations, I will promote corporate transparency and improve corporate governance by limiting the jaebeols’ presence over the financial sector.”
At a luncheon, the president said that while the North Korean nuclear issue has increased uncertainty on the economy, “Now is the time to invest in Korea.”
Meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the UN headquarters, Mr. Roh said Seoul would take part in United Nations-led humanitarian assistance to North Korea. “But plans for long-term development we will fine-tune with the United States, as it is currently talking with North Korea,” he said.
The visit is the first for Mr. Roh, 56, to the United States. In turn, American figures know little of him. He attempted to meet all concerns conciliatingly, causing a Millennium Democratic Party legislator accompanying him to comment, “He really stretched himself.”
Over lunch with Wall Street figures, Mr. Roh said, “Former President Kim Dae-jung’s visit to the United States in 1998 was greatly helpful to South Korea in overcoming the financial crisis, because the president came back with advice. We currently face crises over North Korean and our economy, but we believe they will be surmounted by visiting the United States.”
At the Korea Society Dinner, Mr. Roh spoke before 700 figures from U.S. political and business sectors, and the press. The roster included Lee Kun-hee, chairman of Samsung Group, Mr. Rubin, the former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Foley, Arthur F. Ryan, chief executive officer of Prudential Financial Inc., and Peter Peterson, chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations.
When another former U.S. ambassador to South Korea and current head of the Korea Society, Donald Gregg, noted how many people had come to see the president, Mr. Roh said, “I keep telling people who I am and what I stand for, but there are still some who question me. Let me just put it to you simply. If the United States had not assisted South Korea during the Korean War, I am thinking I might be imprisoned in a North Korean political camp by now,” he said.

by Choi Hoon