|
Saying nothing at all turned out to be worse than saying little.
|
|
South Korea has pledged 3,600 troops to help U.S. operations in Iraq, the largest number of foreign soldiers following the United States and Britain.
In his acceptance speech, Bush named eight countries according to the number of troops deployed in Iraq. They included Britain, Poland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Denmark, El Salvador and Australia. El Salvador and Australia had only sent 380 and 300 troops to Iraq, respectively.
Park Jin, a member of the National Assembly and leading light in the conservative opposition Grand National Party, expressed shock over what many Koreans saw as a terrible snub.
"I couldn't believe Bush didn't mention Korea," said Park when he got back to Seoul. Park said that he had asked afterward to see a transcript of the speech and, sure enough, there was no mention of Korea in the coalition partners that Bush had proudly cited as allied with the U.S. in Iraq.
Park told Korean journalists that he was "worried and shocked," but Korean government officials tried to calm down concerns, saying that apparently Bush had simply "forgotten" to mention Korea.
Others were not sure sure.
The omission was considered in Seoul a sign that the relations between the two countries are undergoing major changes. "Given the size of troops that South Korea sent to Iraq, it is unbelievable that Bush failed to list South Korea," a Foreign Ministry official said.
"This is a regrettable situation, and we Koreans can't easily erase the impression that we have been ignored," the Joong-Ang Ilbo newspaper said in an editorial.
