HONOLULU -- South Korea's political landscape has changed dramatically, and one must assume irreversibly, as a result of the April 15 National Assembly elections. It is clear that the torch has indeed been passed to a new generation. What is less clear is what this means, both in the near and long term, for South Korean-U.S. and South-North relations.
No immediate changes are expected, of course, as attention now rapidly shifts to the Constitutional Court, where the already slim prospects that it would uphold the impeachment of President Roh Moo Hyun, have become even slimmer. The April 15 vote (which handed the pro-Roh Uri Party a majority of seats in the National Assembly) is clearly seen as a vote of confidence in Roh and against those who sought to impeachment him.
Presuming that Roh returns to the Blue House, one would expect that he would quickly proclaim his continued faith in the South Korean-U.S. alliance and his continued insistence that North Korea give up its nuclear-weapons ambitions if it wants to normalize ties with South Korea (and the world in general).