WASHINGTON -- "A friend in need is a friend indeed," a saying goes. South Korea's decision on April 2 to send some 3,600 troops to Iraq is a fitting illustration of the adage. The deployment will make South Korea the largest U.S. coalition partner in Iraq after Britain.
Unlike his predecessor, who once declared that he "won't kowtow to the Americans," acting South Korean President Goh Kun has said a strengthened relationship with Washington is his top foreign policy priority. Given this strategic outlook, the decision by the South Korean government to send troops to Iraq could not have come at a better time.
Goh must remember, however, that a strong friendship is founded not only on a supporting posture in a time of need, but also on a candid dialogue about mutual concerns. Seoul must remind Washington about the urgency of resolving the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula -- the issue that the Bush administration, overburdened by commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan, seems to have put on the back burner. Goh should communicate this message to U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, who visited South Korea this weekend as part of his six-day Asia tour.