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There are concerns in the U.S. that Korea¡¯s presidential elections next will give rise to a fresh wave of anti-American sentiment here.
William Perry, the Clinton-era defense secretary and now a professor at Stanford University, reportedly told former Uri Party chairman Chung Dong-young the feeling in the U.S. is that the Roh Moo-hyun administration came to power by taking advantage of anti-American sentiment. The two met at Standford University on Friday. According to sources in the meeting, Perry expressed hope the next government will not try to win votes by stoking anti-Americanism. He urged the Korean government to fight vestigial resentment of America. Incumbent Pentagon officials echoed the remarks.
A case in point are wrangles over the date for Seoul¡¯s takeover of sole operational control of Korean troops. Seoul aims at 2012, but against expectations that Washington would seek to delay the handover, the U.S. insisted on 2009. A senior Defense Department official said in August that the U.S. was in a hurry primarily because of anti-American sentiment in Korea, not just because of Korea¡¯s improved defense capability of the nation. That hints at irreversible damage to the alliance if politicians link such matters to Korean ¡°independence¡± or ¡°getting the Americans out¡± in the presidential election, just as some made capital from the death of two schoolgirls under the wheels of a U.S. army vehicle in the 2002 election.
The issue of anti-Americanism in South Korea is sidetracking the allies from the task of responding to North Korea's nuclear test. Thus Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is anxious to ensure that the U.S. is not viewed as interfering in South Korea¡¯s domestic affairs, an expert on the Korean Peninsula says, and so avoids pressuring the South to take stronger sanctions against the North.
Then there are the negotiations for a free trade agreement, and the thorny issues of U.S. beef imports and U.S. visa waver program for Koreans. If the FTA is concluded next year as planned, those negatively affected by it could stoke anti-American feelings here. Protests against the trade pact are already getting more aggressive in Korea.
Considering that some 30,000 U.S. Forces Korea are still being stationed here, there is always the possibility of incidents like the deaths of the two schoolgirls in 2002 that can be turned against the U.S. presence here. "The closeness of the alliance means certain groups in our society could create new issues to ignite anti-American feelings here anytime," a researcher with a state-run institute said. ¡°The remarks by Perry and others are a warning against such a possibility.¡±
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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