By Reuben Staines
Staff Reporter


President Roh Moo-hyun may have been secretly rooting for Democratic challenger John Kerry as the votes were tallied in Ohio late into the night on Tuesday. With President George W. Bush reelected for a second four-year term, however, Roh now has little choice but to hide any disappointment and build a stable, long-term relationship with the Texan Republican to ensure they can see eye-to-eye over the long-drawn-out North Korean nuclear standoff.

Roh will have his first opportunity to reacquaint himself with the revitalized Bush on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Santiago, Chile on Nov. 20 and 21.

Experts say Roh will use their informal summit to gauge whether there is likely to be any change in Bush’s approach to the nuclear crisis during his second term in the White House.

``Given the state of the North Korean nuclear issue, these two governments are going to have to work together very closely and their cooperation will be very important,’’ said Sheen Seong-ho, professor at Seoul National University’s Graduate School of International Studies.

``South Korea will try its best to show the U.S. it wants to keep strong bilateral relations,’’ Sheen said. ``But differences over how to solve the nuclear crisis will be the subject of much debate.’’

South Korean officials have urged the United States to show greater flexibility in dealing with the North, hinting that Kerry’s proposal of engaging in direct, rather than multilateral, talks could yield faster results. Hardliners in Washington, on the other hand, believe Seoul has been too weak in pressing Pyongyang to scrap its nuclear programs and is allowing it to buy time.

Sheen expected the Roh-Bush meeting _ their second following a summit in Washington in May 2003 _ will be little more than a formal exchange of greetings. He doubted whether either leader would call for a change in approach on the nuclear standoff and ruled out Bush delivering the kind of strong condemnation of North Korea that so distressed former President Kim Dae-jung during their 2001 summit.

``At least on a personal level, President Roh and President Bush connected quite well in their first summit,’’ he said.

The restored strength in the traditional military alliance between Seoul and Washington, which appeared badly strained just six-months ago, will also give the two something to talk affectionately about.

Relieving security concerns in South Korea, the U.S. last month agreed to a compromise over its plan to withdraw 12,500 soldiers from the peninsula, delaying the deadline for the troop cut until 2008.

From Washington’s perspective, it has every reason to be grateful to Seoul for dispatching the third-largest international contingent of forces to assist the embattled U.S. coalition in post-war Iraq.

rjs@koreatimes.co.kr