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.