By Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter


Ban Ki-moon

South Korea is not opposed to American forces playing a greater role in Northeast Asia unless it means a weakening of the combined defense posture to keep peace and stability on the Korean peninsula, Seoul’s top diplomat said Monday.

``Nobody (in the South Korean government) has opposed that,’’ Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Ban Ki-moon told The Korea Times, in an interview on the occasion of its 54th anniversary.

``I admit the necessity of what the Americans call `strategic flexibility’,’’ Ban stated, citing the changed global security situation over the past 50 years.

``The United States has been going through a transformation period since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks,’’ he continued. ``As an ally, South Korea should also understand the U.S. position that its overseas troops should play a greater role with more flexibility in this transformational stage.’’

Ban’s remarks are seen as a further step over the controversy about the future status and role of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), stationed here for more than half a century to deter any aggression from North Korea after the 1950-53 Korean War.

Washington has often expressed an intention to expand the USFK’s role into mobile forces to cope with any contingencies in the Northeast Asian region, although Seoul has maintained a cautious attitude toward the idea.

In last month’s annual Security Consultative Meeting in Washington, the two nations’ defense ministers ``agreed on the need to continue to maintain a U.S. troop presence on the Korean peninsula and concurred that the alliance continues to serve to bolster peace and stability in Northeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific region as a whole.’’

``We will closely consult with each other in future, both before and after, within a scope that will not undermine our combined defense capability,’’ Ban said.

While talking about the U.S. presidential election on Tuesday, the minister expected there would be no ``fundamental’’ difference in the U.S. position on North Korea’s nuclear problems, regardless of the outcome of the poll.

``I don’t agree the U.S. will get tougher if President George W. Bush is reelected since there is a ground rule (between Seoul and Washington) that the North Korean nuclear crisis should be resolved in a peaceful manner through dialogue,’’ Ban said.

``U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell even told me in the recent talks in Seoul that the Bush administration will continue diplomatic efforts so the six-party talks could be resumed right after the presidential election.’’

As for the controversial North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004, which was ratified last month, Ban once again stressed that Seoul will closely cooperate with Washington in the course of its implementation.

``The U.S. will have to come up with measures to implement the law, setting up standards for supporting North Korean defectors and appointing special envoys,’’ he said. ``I think we can give our opinion on the role of the U.S. special envoy, for example.’’

Ban said it may be possible for a second inter-Korean summit to be held should there be a ``window of opportunity’’ for the North Korean nuclear issue to be solved, or when a breakthrough in the issue could be achieved through the summit.

But he explained the government has not yet sounded out North Korea’s position nor had any contact with North Korea through either formal or informal channels for the holding of an inter-Korean summit.

jinryu@koreatimes.co.kr