[Editorial] Revealing the truth about S. Korea-U.S. summit talks regarding Afghanistan

Posted on : 2009-06-22 13:01 KST Modified on : 2009-06-22 13:01 KST

It has been revealed that the Cheong Wa Dae’s (the presidential office in South Korea or Blue House) announcement that it did not discuss the issue of sending troops to Afghanistan during the June 16 South Korea-U.S. summit was not true. The office of Liberty Forward Party leader Lee Hoi-chang, who attended a breakfast meeting with President Lee Myung-bak, said President Lee explained that U.S. President Barack Obama had requested that South Korea voluntarily send troops to Afghanistan, and that he replied by saying he would consider sending troops as part of the peacekeeping force. When this account was made public, a Cheong Wa Dae official denied the course of the exchange, and instead reported that Obama had said it was not appropriate to ask South Korea to send troops given the current political climate, but indicated it would be nice if South Korea decided to send troops on its own accord. The official said Lee responded by saying he thought South Korea could expand its peace and reconstruction projects. The official said the point of Obama’s statement was that he could not demand South Korea send troops, and accordingly, the issue of sending troops was not officially discussed.

If one considers, however, that the U.S. has made the request for South Korea to troops to Afghanistan through various channels, the Cheong Wa Dae’s account becomes less persuasive. It seems more likely to view the situation as Lee Hoi-chang does, that Obama’s statement was a request for a voluntary dispatch of troops. The South Korean government continues to deny official exchanges have taken place regarding dispatching troops to Afghanistan, but it is well known that the U.S. has directly and indirectly asked South Korea to send troops through the Defense Ministry and diplomatic channels, and South Korea has considered the matter. Last month, General Walter Sharp, the head of the U.S. Forces South Korea (USFK), said he was actively considering several options related to South Korean support plans in Afghanistan.

It is noteworthy that in this latest summit, the two sides agreed to boost cooperation in peacekeeping, stabilization development aid for Afghanistan as part of an agreed-upon joint vision for the South Korea-U.S. alliance. In accordance with this vision, ultimately, South Korea’s role in Afghanistan must expand. In this light, one has to take note of the peacekeeping force mentioned by Lee Hoi-chang. The Cheong Wa Dae says Lee seems to have confused increasing peace project activities with peacekeeping operations (PKO), but this explanation remains unpersuasive.

If the government continues to make public denials, but pushes troop support for Afghanistan, we will have a big problem. The war in Afghanistan is not one that will end by increasing troops. Despite a U.S. offensive that has lasted nearly eight years, the Taliban have encroached into Pakistan. Accordingly, rather than getting bogged down with the U.S. by sending more troops, what we need to do to support the alliance by helping the U.S. find a political solution.

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