The Hindu

Saturday, Oct 04, 2003

S. Korea rules out troops for Iraq

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE OCT. 3. The South Korean President, Roh Moo-hyun, today ruled out
sending combat troops to Iraq for now. He felt that any U.S.-friendly move
might provoke North Korea, while international efforts to persuade Pyongyang
to give up its nuclear weapons programme are on.

Mr. Roh indicated that North Korea might adopt an intransigent attitude,
which could lead to a flare-up of the nuclear issue.

South Korea's negative responsecoincided with North Korea's latest emphatic
statements about its progress towards becoming a nuclear power.

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