It seems the more the Bush administration tries to focus on Iraq, the more other hot-spots demand attention. South Korea has a new leader. Mr. Roh emerged from a heated race as the surprise presidential winner in Seoul yesterday, beating out his more conservative opponent by less than three percentage points.
Roh’s platform includes a continuation of his country’s “sunshine policy” towards North Korea, even though that kind of active engagement with the North is now frowned upon by a Washington anxious about North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. Mr. Roh’s campaign also capitalized on rising anti-American sentiments in Seoul, views of a younger generation that sees the U.S., not as the liberator of the Korean War, but as the enemy.
South Korea, a new president, and new diplomatic challenges for the United States.
Guests:
Don Oberdorfer, Journalist-in-Residence at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, former diplomatic correspondent for The Washington Post , and author of “The Two Koreas”
Victor Cha, Associate Professor of Government at Georgetown University, and author of The “U.S.-Korea-Japan Security Triangle.”