President-elect Roh pledges cooperation with United States
President-elect Roh pledges cooperation with United States
Lim Chang-Won and Park Chan-Kyong, Agence France-Presse, Seoul
President-elect Roh Moo-hyun vowed on Friday that South Korea would cooperate with the United States on resolving North Korea's nuclear crisis while accelerating reform of Asia's fourth largest economy.
Roh, 56, toning down his anti-U.S. image, said he was ready to meet with U.S. President George W. Bush and was also hoping for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
"In order to resolve the nuclear issue peacefully, I will seek, together with our leading roles, close cooperation with the United States and Japan," Roh told journalists in his first press conference as president-elect on Friday.
Roh, candidate of the ruling Millennium Democratic Party, beat Lee Hoi-Chang of the opposition Grand National Party with 48.9 percent of the vote to 46.6.
He confirmed his campaign promise to seek a summit with the North's supremo Kim Jong-il to resolve fears over the North's nuclear program, but stressed he would take time carrying out the plan following discussions with diplomats.
Roh campaigned on opposition to the U.S. policy of isolating North Korea to force the communist regime to give up its nuclear weapons ambitions.
He supports engagement pursued by President Kim Dae-jung under his "sunshine policy" and revising the relationship with the United States which he often described as unjust.
But he said there would be no abrupt change in the relationship. Ties between the two traditional allies should "mature and develop further in the 21st century," he added.
While meeting later in the day with U.S. ambassador Thomas Hubbard, Roh said he wanted to meet with Bush in the near future. The envoy said he would convey Roh's message to Bush when he visits Washington next week.
Roh has never visited the United States and said during the election campaign he would not "kowtow" to Washington.
South Korea's engagement policy with North Korea has met with disapproval in Washington under the administration of Bush who branded the North part of an "axis of evil" alongside Iran and Iraq.
The United States, South Korea, Japan and the European Union halted fuel shipments to North Korea last month after revealing that Pyongyang had admitted to operating a new weapons nuclear program based on enriched uranium in breach of a 1994 accord.
North Korea then said it would reactivate its mothballed nuclear facilities frozen under the 1994 deal known as the Agreed Framework.
The hardline U.S. policy toward Pyongyang combined with the controversial acquittal of two U.S. soldiers charged over the deaths of two schoolgirls in a road accident in June, triggered a wave of recent nationwide anti-U.S. protests.
Roh says that dialogue and economic exchanges are the only way to resolve the crisis that could deepen with North Korea's further isolation.
On the economy, Roh said he was committed to growth coupled with reform, with the left-of-center candidate immediately seeking to reassure foreign investors of his commitment.
"I will not retreat from market reforms. I will push for reforms with a strong determination," said Roh, a pro-labor former human rights lawyer.
He said South Korea should remain a model of reform in Asia by renovating economic and market systems as well as the country's family-run business conglomerates known as chaebol.
Reforms should be accelerated to protect South Korea's impressive recovery from economic implosion five years ago, he said.
"If unreasonable chaebol and economic systems are not corrected, it will (mean) lower economic efficiency and could result in another economic crisis," he said.
South Korea's business community welcomed Roh's election which analysts said would increase the chances for a long-term stock rally next year on expectations that he would push "market- friendly" reform policies.