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[EDITORIALS]Roh disrupts and attacks

Published: 18 Sep. 2006, 22:08

President Roh Moo-hyun reportedly said, “Conservatives in Korea want to use the second division as trip wire in time of war, but the [South] Korean government does not want it because we are friends of the United States,” during his visit to the United States. The remark reportedly came in a meeting with members of the American House of Representatives. This slip of the tongue is too serious to believe that it was made by the president of the Republic of Korea.
The second division of the U.S. Army is stationed at a point of strategic importance north of the Han River on the midwest front. It became the foundation for the U.S. Army’s automatic involvement in case of an invasion by North Korea to the South, which was why it was called the “trip wire.”
However, according to a new United States military strategy to mobilize the U.S. Army around the world, the concept of a trip wire could not help but be revised, starting in 2003.
In this process, people who are concerned about national security have claimed the trip wire must be maintained.
They considered the trip wire to be a firm deterrent to war.
However, the United States strongly pushed the theory that there was no use for there to be a U.S. Army trip wire in the Demilitarized Zone, and the Roh Moo-hyun administration agreed with it. Therefore, maintaining the trip wire turned out to be of no use. Still, the controversy over the trip wire, brought up by the “conservative” public, was nothing more or less than the concern over national security.
Still, the president of this country again revealed his chronic evil practice to make use of this issue for his political gain. His remark means that he wants to follow the U.S. policies but the conservatives of his country are stopping him.
We all know what kind of words and behavior President Roh has shown toward the United States. Still, Mr. Roh is portraying the conservatives of his country as the “opposition force against the U.S. policies,” in a bid to give a blow to the conservatives. On top of this, he was talking to the president of a foreign country.
A president should represent all members of his nation. However, Mr. Roh does not hesitate to make his trademark of “disruption and attack” from domestic politics. We cannot but doubt whether Mr. Roh really deserves to be a president of this country. It is dismal to think about when Mr. Roh might give up his distorted perception.