December 11, 2002	Wednesday	Shawwal 6, 1423

SEOUL, Dec 10: A US envoy visiting South Korea on Tuesday to canvass support for Washington’s policy on Iraq was warned by Seoul that ties could be hurt by a furor over two girls killed in an accident involving a US military vehicle.

President Kim Dae-Jung told visiting Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage that the treaty governing the legal status of US troops in South Korea, one of Washington’s closest military allies in Asia, may need to be modified because of the row.

“Our people feel great shock and sadness at the tragic deaths of the middle school girls,” the presidential Blue House quoted Kim as telling Armitage.

“But both countries must take prudent measures to prevent this incident from having a negative impact on the foundation of Korea-US relations,” Kim said.

He also repeated a call for modifying the Status of Forces Agreement, which governs the status of the 37,000 US troops in the country.

Armitage conveyed to Kim the United States’ “profound apology” over the accident and later told reporters Washington took Seoul’s sentiment “very seriously”.

“We have to do our absolute best to be seen as the best possible partners for our friends in Korea,” Armitage said.

The girls, both teenagers, were crushed to death in June but last month’s court martial acquittal of the two US soldiers involved reignited anti-American sentiment.

And with a Dec 19 presidential vote looming, the presence and legal status of US troops in South Korea have become an emotive election issue — overshadowing problems such as North Korea’s nuclear arms programme.

Activists used the visit by Armitage, part of a four-nation Asian tour, as a fresh focus for anti-American protests.

A small group gathered outside the US embassy before Armitage’s arrival in Seoul and demanded an apology for the girls’ deaths and said they opposed US “world hegemonism”.

“Oppose the war on Iraq! End US hostility toward North Korea! Condemn the Armitage visit!” shouted the protesters.

Later, a group of about 50 activists that included the fathers of the dead girls gathered at the US embassy to demand another apology from US President George W. Bush following his statement of regret to the girls’ families last month.

“If we put our people’s strength together, the day will come when the arrogant and ignorant Bush apologises, kneeling down in front of our people,” said one of the fathers, Shim Soo-bo.

Armitage, who was in Tokyo on Monday, met Kim and South Korea’s foreign and defence ministers. His trip will also take him to Beijing and Canberra.

Kim told the US envoy that as a US ally, South Korea would “positively assist” American efforts to disarm Iraq. He did not elaborate on what help would come from Seoul, which played minor supportive roles in the 1991 Gulf War and in Afghanistan.

But he also said the protests over the girls’ deaths could weaken the country’s 50-year-old security alliance with the United States.

Angry that no one was found criminally responsible for the deaths, many South Koreans want the Status of Forces Agreement altered to allow local authorities to prosecute cases involving US troops on duty.

Some activists have seized on the case to press for a withdrawal of US troops, based in South Korea under an alliance dating back to the start of the Korean War in 1950.

During his talks, Armitage also discussed North Korea, which Bush has branded part of an “axis of evil” with Iraq and Iran.

Washington says Pyongyang has admitted to pursuing a nuclear arms programme, in violation of a 1994 non-proliferation pact.

Kim said that Seoul, Washington and Tokyo should strengthen diplomatic efforts with the European Union, Russia and China to “make North Korea swiftly abandon its nuclear plans”.

Armitage said in Tokyo on Monday that US President George W. Bush was willing to be patient with Iraq but Baghdad would be disarmed eventually if it did not disarm itself.—Reuters