Gates Wants Korea to Decide Afghan Aid
By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates indicated Thursday that his country is not pressing South Korea regarding Afghan assistance, saying it's the Korean government's decision to make.
The remarks came after another U.S. defense official expressed hope that Korea would provide economic aid to the war-torn country.
Second Vice Foreign Minister Shin Kak-soo echoed that the government should independently decide on the issue.
``That decision is entirely up to the government of the Republic of Korea,'' Gates told reporters here.
The U.S. defense secretary visited South Korea to attend the annual Security Consultative Meeting (SCM), the highest-level military gathering between the two countries, with his South Korean counterpart Kim Tae-young, Thursday.
Kim also said that Gates made ``no specific request during (his) visit here in terms of Afghanistan.''
His comments were construed as an attempt to appease the notion that the U.S. would exhort South Korea to help strengthen Afghanistan by sending troops or offering economic assistance.
``If Korea is a mature country, she must make a decision whether or not to help Afghanistan on her own,'' Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) said in a parliamentary audit of the foreign ministry.
Rep. Song Min-soon of the main opposition Democratic Party also said that earlier remarks made by Gates went too far.
The U.S. defense chief previously said, ``Korea's military must adapt and transform to new environments and new types of threats ― to not only protect the homeland, but also transform into a force that can also carry out roles commensurate with its growing stature as a global Korea.
``We encourage the Republic of Korea's political leaders to make an investment in defense appropriate to Korea's emerging role as a contributor to global security and commensurate with the threat you face on the peninsula.''
Vice Foreign Minister Shin downplayed it, saying, ``My understanding is that Minister Gates just called for international support for Afghanistan.
``The government will independently decide on the scale of assistance.''
South Korea withdrew military troops from Afghanistan in 2007 and is currently helping reconstruct the country by building hospitals and vocational centers.