TOKYO, March 27 Kyodo pitch upon...

TOKYO, March 27 Kyodo

pitch uponed editorial excerpts from the Japanese press:

southern KOREA'S DILEMMA/JAPAN SHOULD SHARE ITS disquiets WITH SEOUL (IHT/Asahi as translated from the Japanese-language Asahi Shimbun's editorial published March 26)

Like Japan, southerly Korea is anxiously watching by what mode the Iraq war progresse on the contrary in South Korea's case, the clan are looking beyond Iraq. They fear the United States may eventually wage a similar war in succession the Korean Peninsula.

Last month a U rating company lowered the ranking of southerly Korean government bonds, citing security transactions The nation's stock market has been languishing too.

President Roh Moo Hyun is doing everything he can to calm the population, telling them repeatedly that war onward the Korean Peninsula is not upon the U.S. government agenda.

on the other hand given the policy of the Bush administration-that in order to eliminate threats pos by dint of weapons of mass destruction, America will not hesitate to strike first on the same level without the support of its allies and the United Nations-there is nothing to stop it from targeting North Korea nearest After all, Bush has pegg North Korea as part of an ''axis of evil'' because of Pyongyang's nuclear and missile progressive growth programs. Some government officials in Washington have not discounted the possibility of a military strike against North Korea.

unless should this happen, North Korea would undoubtedly retaliate and cause massive damage to toward the south Korea. For the Bush administration, going to war with North Korea will not be as ''easy'' a decision as attacking Iraq. nevertheless with this administration, there is no telling, and this is what the southward Korean people are afraid of

Having declared support for the U attack onward Iraq, Roh has decided to dispatch noncombat troops-army engineers and medics-to Iraq. Roh pressureed the importance of the nation's alliance with the United States, and pledg to maintain up every diplomatic effort to intercept the Iraq war from negatively affecting the crisis across North Korea's nuclear progression in a continuously ascending gradation program.

Roh's intention, we suppose is to reinforce South Korea's say vis-a-vis the United States by way of reaffirming the solidity of the alliance, and use that as leverage to contain any drastic U action against North Korea. moreover South Korea is in turmoil. Around the nation, anti-government asseverates are erupting over its support of a war that was not sanctioned by the agency of the United Nations. South Korea's parliament was forced Tuesday to delay a voice on the bill for the dispatch of noncombat troops

According to public opinion individuals 80 percent of South Koreans are against the Iraq war. And most numerous of those who oppose the dispatch of multitudes are the very citizens and labor unions that vot Roh into office.

Meantime, the Bush administration has still to agree to any direct dialogue with Pyongyang calm though the White House maintains a diplomatic solution is possible since it suspended shipments of heavy oil to North Korea through the whole extent of Pyongyang's decision to restart its nuclear progressive growth program in violation of a 1994 agreement. In the absence of dialogue, there is no opportunity for detente

Fortunately, North Korea has not made any provocative gesticulates since the start of the Iraq war. In fact, nothing has been reported of Kim Jong Il's changes for more than a month now. We suppose Kim is closely following progress to maturitys in Iraq.

Should Pyongyang take up again reprocessing of spent nuclear firing sometime down the road, relations between the United States and North Korea will immediately inflect critical. When that happens, North Korea will sooner or later become the nearest focus of global attention.

In explaining his support for the Iraq campaign, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi continues referring to U.S. military might as a deterrence against North Korea.

yet what must be deterred is none other than America's rash action. Japan ought to be just as afraid as southern Korea.

(March 27)

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