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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Sandy Berger, former White House National Security Advisor and key foreign policy and security advisor to Democratic Party presidential candidate John Kerry, hinted Wednesday that should Kerry win the U.S. presidential election in November, it was possible that the decision to reduce U.S. troops in Korea would be reconsidered.
In a keynote address for an international symposium entitled "Regionalism in Northeast Asia: Opportunities and Challenges," hosted by Johns Hopkins University and the Maeil Business Newspaper, Berger said USFK reductions were inappropriate, claiming that pulling 12,000 troops out of Korea at a time when Koreans were openly raising doubts about the Korea-U.S. relationship was sending a bad signal to Koreans. He said he strongly wondered whether John Kerry, if elected, wouldn't reconsider the reduction.
Berger indicated once again the need for direct talks between the U.S. and North Korea to solve the North Korean nuclear issue, stressing that sitting face-to-face with North Korea was not surrender. On the contrary, he said the U.S. could take a strong position.
He said the two biggest challenges in Northeast Asia were North Korea and Taiwan, and the next U.S. president would have to focus on eliminating North Korea's nuclear weapons development project and make clear to China that the use of arms against Taiwan would not be tolerated.
(Heo Yong-beom, heo@chosun.com )
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