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http://japanese.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2006/09/13/20060913000026.html
英紙「韓米関係はすべての面でどん底」
過去数十年間、政治・経済・軍事面で同盟関係にあった韓米関係が、最近すべての面で「どん底」状態にあると、英国の経済紙フィナンシャル・タイムズが12日付で報じた。
同紙は「北朝鮮のミサイル発射に対する対応をめぐって、米国のブッシュ政権は“ムチ”（制裁）を主張したのに対し、韓国の盧武鉉（ノ・ムヒョン）政権は“アメ”（さらなる経済援助）を主張し、両国は分裂状態に陥った」と報じた。
そして、この分裂状態の中で開かれる今回の韓米首脳会談では、両国が共通点を探るとは誰も期待しておらず、両国の外交官らも、首脳会談で共同声明を採択しないことで合意していると付け加えた。
同紙はまた、韓昇洲（ハン・スンジュ）前駐米韓国大使が「韓米両国は一部意見の食い違いがあることを認めた上で、同盟関係における問題点を解決するために引き続き努力していくだろう。しかし現実として韓米関係にはひびが入っており、盧大統領の“拡声器外交”はより活発化している」と語ったと報じた。
高麗大の咸成得（ハム・ソンドゥク）教授も「任期が残り少なくなる中で、盧大統領は自らの功績を残そうと考え、そのために米国から“自主”をかちとることを強調しているのだろう」と語った。
イ・ヨンス記者
朝鮮日報
【フィナンシャル・タイムズ紙・関連記事】
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http://www.ft.com/cms/s/ddddd026-41ed-11db-b4ab-0000779e2340.html
Disputes over N Korea expose cracks among allies
By Anna Fifield in Seoul
Published: September 12 2006 01:42 | Last updated: September 12 2006 01:42
For decades the US and South Korea have been allies – politically, economically and militarily.
But President Roh Moo-hyun arrives at the White House on Thursday for his fifth summit with George W. Bush at a time when relations on all fronts are at a nadir. Certainly, there will be no air guitar and Elvis glasses at Graceland for Mr Roh.
Just as North Korea prompted the birth of the alliance – when the US came to fend off the communist invasion of the south in 1950 – Pyongyang now has people talking about its death.
Washington and Seoul are split over how to deal with Pyongyang’s defiant missile launches – the Bush administration wants sticks while Mr Roh’s government favours carrots. They are also divided over how to end the five-decade-old agreement under which the US would take control in the event of another war with the North.
And Mr Roh’s surprising decision to push for a far-reaching free trade agreement with the US – bilateral trade between the two countries totals $70bn a year – has unleashed a torrent of anti-Americanism at home, seeing the unlikely pairing of rice farmers and film stars protesting against “economic colonialism”.
In an ominous sign that no one expects to find much in common at this week’s meeting, diplomats have already agreed there will be no joint statements.
“They will confirm that there are some differences in perceptions but they will try to allay concerns about the continuing robustness of the alliance,” says Han Seung-joo, Mr Roh’s first ambassador to Washington.
“But there are cracks and the president’s ‘megaphone diplomacy’ is continuing with greater frequency,” he told the Financial Times.
Relations between Seoul and Washington have been deteriorating since Mr Roh came to office in 2002, elected partly on a pledge to make South Korea less dependent on its ally.
“His retirement is coming up so he is thinking about his legacy and trying to show a bit of autonomy from the US,” says Hahm Sung-deuk, a presidential historian at Korea University who once taught Mr Roh. “His legacy is more important than the alliance.”
While South Korean and American officials had been at pains to play down the problems – as one US official put it, “It’s bad but it’s always bad” – the divisions that were illustrated in July over the North’s missile tests have become more pronounced over the issue of wartime command.
US troops have been stationed on the southern half of the peninsula since the Korean war, but their numbers are being cut as part of the Pentagon’s global realignment. At the same time, negotiations are under way to transfer control of allied forces to the 700,000-strong South Korean military in the event of a war.
“Defence potential is the key to protecting national sovereignty, and the president is the commander in chief of the nation’s armed forces,” Mr Roh said in an interview with state-run KBS television last month. “After all, we do not recruit a foreign citizen as the president.”
But the timing has become contentious. The US army chief in Seoul says the South could reassume wartime control in 2009 but, although it is pushing to assert its sovereignty, Seoul has balked at the timeframe, insisting the change should not be made until at least 2012.
Much like the anti-FTA demonstrations, the debate has triggered a wave of protests from a slew of diverse groups, with everyone from intellectuals to retired generals taking to the streets, saying the unpreparedness of the South Korean military could weaken the deterrence against North Korea.
“Now is not the proper time to discuss wartime command control,” says a petition signed by 700 academics calling themselves the People’s Council for an Advanced Nation. “It will not be too late to discuss the matter after North Korea abandons its nuclear programme and shows its willingness to open up to the outside world and to build peace between the two Koreas.”
Many of Mr Roh’s own officials – including his former defence and foreign ministers – have attacked the government for the way in which it is handling the transfer and damaging the alliance.
Even if they disagree on all the key issues, the South Koreans remain optimistic that their common trait with the Americans – both are straight talkers – will see them through this week.
“President Bush likes me because I have a clear direction,” Mr Roh reportedly told Korean newspaper editors over lunch last month. “I can say that’s my asset.”
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