94% in S. Korea Back U.S. Troop Role, Roh Declares

South Korean President Roh Tae Woo told Congress today that 94% of his countrymen support the presence of 43,000 U.S. troops and that anti-American demonstrators represent only a “tiny band of extremists.”

“The extreme elements in Korea will diminish in influence as the benefits of democracy and prosperity are enjoyed more and more,” Roh told a joint meeting of the Senate and House.

Referring to unnamed dissidents, Roh said: “Regrettably, certain radicals have resorted to force and committed unlawful acts to pursue their aims under the guise of democratic reform. . . . Here are also the tiny band of extremists who parade anti-American slogans and perpetrate attacks on U.S. facilities.”

In the latest such incident, six militant students invaded and vandalized the U.S. ambassador’s residence in Seoul last week.

Roh said his own party and the political opposition are united in backing the American military presence that he and President Bush agreed in talks Tuesday continues to be vital for deterring attack by communist North Korea.

In the population as a whole, he said “a very recent poll has shown that 94% strongly support the presence of U.S. troops.”

“Any hint of weakening in the U.S. defense commitment or (sudden) lessening of the U.S. military presence might cause North Korea to misjudge the U.S. commitment,” he said.

Roh said his government is “exerting every possible effort to . . . convince North Korea that nothing will be achieved by force.” He voiced hope that South Korea’s expanding relations with the Soviet Union, China and other communist countries would help ease North Korean hostility.

Roh was the second Korean president in history to address Congress. The first was Syngman Rhee, founder of the Republic of Korea, who in 1954 thanked the American people for saving his country from communism in the 1950-53 Korean War.

Changes in his country, he said, “are so diverse, rapid and far-reaching that they can be truly called revolutionary.”