President Roh Moo-hyun on Tuesday defended Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok against criticism over Lee¡¯s attack on Washington¡¯s North Korea policies over the weekend. ¡°Can¡¯t a Korean minister say, ¡®I don¡¯t think that a U.S. policy succeeded in that regard?¡¯¡± Roh started off a salvo of rhetorical questions right after the meeting started and with the press still in the room. Lee had said on a TV program the U.S. ¡°suffered the biggest failure¡± when North Korea test-fired missiles in defiance of international warnings on July 5.
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President Roh Moo-hyun at a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on Tuesday.
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Lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties in the National Assembly on Monday chastised Lee for his ¡°inappropriate¡± remarks.
¡°Are any ministers here who say the U.S. made a mistake going to be reprimanded at the National Assembly?¡± Roh continued. ¡°Are you saying we should suffocate Pyongyang? Do you think that the U.S. is a country without fault? Do you believe that we should always keep quiet when the U.S. makes a mistake?¡± The president urged ministers to voice their conviction when answering lawmakers at the National Assembly, saying, ¡°Ministers are supposed to speak straight from their own convictions.¡±
The remarks come amid a widening gulf between Korea and its long-term ally over additional sanctions Washington wants to impose on the North. Roh has rarely made a secret of his critical attitude to the U.S., saying during his election campaign in 2002, ¡°I don¡¯t go to the U.S. just to take a picture with the president there¡± and asking in yet another rhetorical question, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with anti-Americanism?¡±
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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