South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun's dismissal of his foreign minister drew widespread media criticism yesterday as his office tried to calm fears of a disruption in relations with the US.
There was no immediate word on a replacement for Foreign Minister Yoon Young-kwan, ousted on Thursday in a spat over criticism that his ministry had disregarded Roh policies that would shift Seoul away from traditional closeness to Washington.
The National Security Council (NSC), a presidential body whose officials advocating an "independent" foreign policy appeared to have prevailed over the Foreign Ministry's pro-US line, issued a statement stressing continuity in Seoul's ties with Washington.
"The personnel change in the Foreign Ministry will not affect Republic of Korea-US relations in any way," NSC spokeswoman Lee Ji-hyun said in a statement.
But the sudden departure of Yoon, a moderate career acad-emic, triggered a raging debate across editorial pages and in parliament over the wisdom of shaking up the foreign-policy team at a crucial time and over the philosophy behind the move.
South Korea and the US are striving to bring North Korea to the table for talks to resolve a crisis over its suspected nuclear arms programs. The diplomacy also involves China, Japan and Russia.
The dispute -- billed by local media as a battle between the "Alliance Faction" and the "Independence Faction" -- erupted late last year with media reports that professional diplomats had disparaged members of Roh's team as amateurish.
Mainstream newspapers said the diplomats could have been disciplined without the drastic and risky removal of Yoon.
They also questioned the Roh team's perception of national interest.
"Foreign policy must rest on cool-headed calculations of what would promote the national interest," said the centrist Joongang Ilbo newspaper in an editorial.
"But sadly, our reality is a dogmatic dichotomizing where alliance proponents are cast as anti-nationalistic and the proponents of an independent foreign policy as the patriots," the editorial continued.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
DITCH TACTICS: Kenyan officers were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch suspected to have been deliberately dug by Haitian gang members A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said in a statement yesterday. The Kenyan officers on Tuesday were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” the statement said, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer. Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media. Gang violence has left
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
RSS