South Korea Elects 'Sunshine' Backer
Pro-government candidate Roh Moo-hyun won South Korea's presidential election Thursday in a vote that could affect relations with the United States and communist North Korea.
Roh has said he wants a more "equal" relationship with Washington, a key ally, and advocates dialogue with the North. Opposition candidate Lee Hoi-Chang, who was critical of the government's "sunshine" policy of engaging Pyongyang, conceded defeat.
With almost 95 percent of the votes counted, Roh had 49 percent and Lee 46.5 percent. That lead was insurmountable, television stations said.
"Thank you my dear fellow countrymen, who have elected me as president," Roh said at his party headquarters. "I will try to become a president, not just for the people who supported me, but also for the people who opposed me in the election."
Lee, who also lost the 1997 presidential election, said, "I did my best, but I fell short."
Turnout among the nation's 35 million eligible voters was 70.2 percent, almost 11 percent lower than in the 1997 presidential election.
In a wintry chill, voters lined up at 13,400 polling stations throughout the country of 48 million people. The day was declared a national holiday, so some people showed up to vote in hiking clothes or ski outfits.
Positions on the United States presence in South Korea and relations with North Korea dominated the final stages of the campaign.
Security concerns vaulted to the forefront last week when North Korea declared it would revive a frozen nuclear plant previously suspected of being used to make weapons.
The vote took place amid a surge in anti-U.S. sentiment, fueled by the recent acquittals in U.S. military trials of two American soldiers whose armored vehicle hit and killed two South Korean teenage girls in June in a road accident.
Roh, 55, supports President Kim Dae-jung's policy of engaging North Korea, and believes dialogue is the best way to resolve concerns over North Korea's nuclear weapons programs.
Lee, 67, says Kim's policy has failed, and prefers a tougher approach more in line with that of President Bush. Kim's five-year term ends in February. Under South Korean law, he was barred from seeking re-election.
"I think it should be give-and-take in dealing with North Korea," said Kyle Kim, a 32-year-old engineer who voted for Lee. "We have given them a lot, and nothing has changed."
North Korea said it needed to generate electricity because the United States had reneged on commitments to provide power, but Washington said the communist government was violating several nuclear arms control agreements. U.S. officials say North Korea also told them in October that it had a second nuclear program based on uranium enrichment.
Many South Koreans believe Mr. Bush, who has ruled out talks with Pyongyang unless it abandons its nuclear development, is an obstacle to reconciliation with North Korea. Roh, who wants South Korea to be less dependent on Washington, had been expected to benefit from growing unhappiness with the 37,000 U.S. soldiers stationed in the South.
"Bush is a trigger-happy man," said Kim Han-sik, a 32-year-old voter. "We need a leader who can say no when we think we should say no. Our country has been too subservient to the United States."
In recent weeks, tens of thousands of young South Koreans have taken to the streets to protest the acquittals of the U.S. soldiers for the road deaths and demand more South Korean jurisdiction over U.S. troops in their country.
The soldiers were acquitted of negligent homicide charges, but many South Koreans believed the trial was unfair. U.S. military officials apologized repeatedly for the deaths.
According to a State Department briefing prepared for Congress in June, "Roh in the past has advocated a withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Korea. He now says U.S. troops should remain but that South Korea should gain equality in the security relationship."
The United States contingent in South Korea is the third largest in any foreign country. Germany hosts 71,000 troops and Japan 39,000. While they both serve as the bulwark of U.S. military presence in the Pacific, the composition of the American garrisons in Japan and Korea differs significantly, and reflects the unique threat posed by the communist North.
Most of the American personnel in Japan are Navy men and women. The vast majority of the delegation to South Korea — more than 28,000 of them — are from the Army, poised to dissuade or repel an invasion by North Korea's massive ground force.