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The Democrats look set to take one or even both houses of the U.S. Congress in off-year elections on Tuesday. The end of the 12-year Republican hegemony over Congress will directly and indirectly affect U.S. government policy on the Korean Peninsula.
Counter-intuitively, U.S. may become more aggressive in handing over sole operational control of Korean troops to Seoul. Kim Tong-hyun, a professor at Korea University's Ilmin International Relations Institute who translated for President George W. Bush, says the Democrats are also more active in reducing U.S. troops stationed overseas. Seoul and Washington agreed that the shift will take place between October 2009 and March 2012. Possible conflict between Congress and the government over the alliance with Korea could mean trouble. "If the U.S. Congress and the government send different signals to us, it may further complicate the already very unstable bilateral dialogue channels," a researcher with a national research institute said.
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Former U.S. president Bill Clinton stands with Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm at a Michigan Democrats rally on Saturday in Detroit./AP
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Nor will the Democrats automatically support Seoul's engagement policy with North Korea. Prof. Kim Tae-hyo of Sungkyunkwan University, said the Democrats ¡°think they cannot apply the same North Korea policy that the Clinton administration adopted.¡± Nam Sung-wook, a North Korea specialist at Korea University, says it is a mistake to think that the Democrats' North Korean policy is much the same as ours. ¡°Their policy is surely different from the unconditional engagement that we adopt here toward the North.¡± Ko Yu-hwan, a professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk University, believes North Korea announced its return to six-party talks on its nuclear program right before the off-year election in the U.S. because it has the Democrats in mind. ¡°Pyongyang can convey the message that it can negotiate with the U.S. if the U.S. lifts its financial sanctions on it rather than threatening a second nuclear test.¡± Prof. Kim Tae-hyo said the Democrats agree that the Proliferation Security Initiative or financial sanctions against Pyongyang are necessary in principle, so there will be no significant change in how strong the U.S. sanctions against the North become even when the Democrats control both houses.¡±
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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