When Democratic Labor Party lawmaker Roh Hoe-chan said there were claims the purpose of the redeployment of U.S. troops in Korea was to launch precision strikes against threatening forces, Yoon replied that such claims were untrue and it was impossible for the U.S. military to make preemptive, precision strikes under the current Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command structure.

In regards to the possibility that USFK could be moved to a conflict zone in a third country, he said it would be possible if Korea and the U.S. agreed, and added that the U.S. had talked with Korea when elements of the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division were removed, so such actions could be considered as long as they didn't negatively influence security on the Korean Peninsula.

As for intra-Korean issues, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said the government had been considering a resumption of talks between South and North Korea in various ways, adding that he would report any concrete plans once they've been actualized.

In regards to North Korean defectors, Chung said it was important to help them from a humanitarian perspective and bring them to Korea, adding it would not be helpful to make a domestic and international fuss about the issue.

Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said the 2nd Bush administration could become more flexible in its foreign relations than the 1st administration.

Prime Minister Lee Hai-chan said the National Security Law needed quite a bit of revision, and hoped the National Assembly would deal with it through agreement to the extent that it did not affect the national security system. His remark is significant because it shows a change in his position on the National Security Law from emphasizing its abolition to placing weight on agreement.

(Park Min-sun, sunrise.chosun.com)