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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 16, 2004)
KVORLD ■he battalion Friday, April 16, 2004 spil Weir. less. iscas idaau be and ificiaia wpesii South Koreans vote in key polls fueled y high emotions over impeachment 7 A pjfTAggieland Depot"!^ Diploma Framing www.aggieland-depot.com Culpepper Plaza • 695-1422 By Sang-Hun Choe THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SEOUL, South Korea — outh Koreans voted Thursday n tightly contested parliamen tary elections that could eshape relations with the United States over Iraq and North Korea and decide the future of impeached President Roh Moo-hyun. Roh was not vying for a seat in the 299-seat National Assembly, but the results were seen as a public referendum on the suspended leader’s rule. > Roh has pledged to resign if the pro-government Uri Party fares poorly. The elections also could introduce a rare, liberal-lean- ng parliament with implica tions for the country’s rela tions with North Korea and the United States. Dominated by conserva tives, the parliament has PM checked two successive liberal governments’ attempts to shape a foreign policy more ndependent of the United States, the country’s tradition al ally, and to boost exchanges with North Korea despite its nuclear weapons programs and human rights violations. The National Election Commission expected a voter turnout of over 60 percent, higher than the previous elec tion’s 57.2 percent, reflecting high emotion over last month’s parlia- m e n t a r y impeachment of Roh, the coun try’s first since its founding in 1948. Seven hours South Korean democracy is at a crossroads. into the polling, about 38.9 per cent of the coun try’s 35.6 million eligible voters had cast ballots. Initial results were expected later Thursday. “Everyone should vote,” Roh urged after voting with First Lady Kwon Yang-sook at a school for the speaking- and hearing-impaired near the pres idential office. Vice President Dick Cheney was to arrive in Seoul before polls close Thursday evening. He was expected to meet Prime Minister Goh Chung Dong-young Uri leader Kun, the acting president, to discuss North Korea, the U.S.-South Korean alliance and South Korea’s pledge to send 3,600 troops to Iraq. The United States keeps about 37,000 troops in South Korea. The Uri Party was once fore cast to take an easy majority in the National Assembly, riding a backlash against the impeachment. Surveys suggest ed about seven in 10 South Koreans opposed the move. If the Uri Party wins, it would strengthen Roll's hand as the Constitutional Court rules on whether to uphold his impeachment or restore his executive powers. Roh is not a Uri Party member but has said he plans to join. “South Korean democracy is at a crossroads,” Uri leader Chung Dong-young said after voting. But local media say the party’s lead has slipped, after Chung told old South Koreans to “stay home and rest” and let young voters decide the future on election day. The remark angered older South Koreans proud of pulling the nation out pover ty after the 1950-53 Korean War and making it a global trade giant. The GNP rallied older vot ers by electing Park Geun-hye as its head. Park is the daugh ter of former President Park Chung-hee, the father of South Korea’s stunning indus trialization in the 1960s and 70s, who remains popular among conservatives. In an effort to siphon sup port from the Uri, the GNP also promised to start pursuing “more flexible and future-ori ented North Korean policies.” Park pledged to visit the North to foster ties. The fellow opposition Millennium Democratic Party, meanwhile, wants the new par liament to reconsider South Korea’s Iraqi troop dispatch, after escalating violence made the plan unpopular. Both the GNP and Uri sup port the troops dispatch. exec:: m La for Hi: heney pushes Asian nations to do more to check North Korean nuclear program led By Tom Raum THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SEOUL, South Korea — Vice President M Cheney challenged Asian powers hursday to do more to contain North jCorea’s nuclear program, saying that letting tgrow unchecked could spark a new arms ace in the region and create a weapons bazaar for terrorists. “We must see this undertaking through i its conclusion,” Cheney told a university ludience in Shanghai, China. “Time is not jecessarily on our side.” He expressed clear frustration with the jurrent diplomatic stalemate before flying i South Korea, his last stop of a weeklong ^sia trip. The speech was carried by China’s state felevision without deletions or blackouts, jhich U.S. officials took as an encouraging jign of change. Cheney praised China for setting up six- by talks to persuade North Korea to dis- nantle its nuclear program, but he prodded thinese leaders to be more aggressive in Iringing pressure to bear on Pyongyang. The six-way talks include the United States, China, Russia, Japan and the two Koreas. “We’ll do our level best to achieve this objective through diplomatic means, and through negotiations. But it is important that we make progress in this area,” Cheney said. He suggested that North Korea represented a double threat — it could stock its own nuclear arsenal and sell weapons to the highest bid der, including al-Qaida and other terror organizations. “The people of Asia are particularly vulnerable to the threats of (weapons) proliferation,” Cheney said. “Many countries that have the means to develop the deadliest weapons have refrained from doing so.” But he said a continued North Korean nuclear threat could persuade other powers in the region to develop their own nuclear weapons, triggering a new arms race across the region “and the likelihood that one day We must see this undertaking through to its condusion. — Dick Cheney U.S. vice president Attn: stef! PARENTS! Open House - 1404 Holleman Saturday 9-12:00 10 Individual Townhomes For Sale @105,000. 3 bedrooms / 2 baths Walk to TAMU! Linda Stribling, Realtor 575-0580 Saturday, April 17 10 - 4 ITEJ3 Realty & Investment Company 260-1200 Stop by 717 B University Drive (by Taco Bell) Visit with our FREE LOCATORS, view our properties with your PARENTS, and secure your "New Pad" for May or August! St Register to win a JpM MP3 Player jE (Need not be present to win) Pi Phi Playoffs Homerun Derby Contest Registration ends April 16 www.aggiepiphi.com The Battalion Classified Advertising • Easy • Affordable • Effective For information, call 845-0569 - .. ^ov V oU during Paren ts' H/ ( & \A/h\/ ront XA/hon x/rxi i ran hi n/7 Inx/oct nrx\A/l ^0, O' ^ Why rent when you can buy? Invest now! Three agents working just for you! coidweii Barker @ United, Realtors Don't do all the hard work, let us be YOUR personal retrievers! 411 S. Texas Ave. Aggieland Home Team Ken E. Rogers '75, Realtor ® Kathy K. Rogers, Realtor ® Gus A. Gruner '01, Realtor ® 979-229-7868 Ken 979-777-8994 Kathy 979-777-2214 Gus aggielandhometeam@yahoo.com m • A&M and Blinn Student Small Homes, Condos, Townhomes • Low or No $SS Down Programs Available • We Work for YOU in YOUR Best Interests to Make Your Transaction Smooth! Drop by and say Howdy to the Aggieland Home Team Friday afternoon or Saturday morning! or call or email us anytime! Located near the corner of University Dr. and Texas Ave. P*ieG4U34uut GentenA 9 * /of BRAZOS VALLEY YOU COULD HAVE AN STD AND NOT KNOW IT! IF YOU'RE SEXUALLY ACTIVE YOU ARE AT RISK - EVEN IF YOU ARE USING CONDOMS. STD Testing - Free & Confidential Call our Registered Nurse to make an appointment 695-9193 205 Brentwood, College Station those weapons would be used.” Cheney said recent information gleaned from a top former Pakistani nuclear scientist provided compelling evidence that Pyongyang has an active atomic weapons program. The reclusive communist government “must understand that no one in the region wants them to develop those weapons,” Cheney said. During Cheney’s Asia trip, citizens from all three countries he visited — Japan, China and South Korea — were seized by militants in Iraq. Three Japanese hostages were released Thursday. The South Korean and Chinese hostages were freed earlier. Cheney has engaged in unusu ally blunt talk in his travels, urg- ing allies with troops in Iraq not to bow to pressure from militants and telling Chinese leaders that U.S. defen sive military sales to Taiwan are largely a response to their own military buildup on the Taiwan Strait. Cheney came seeking South Korea’s sup port on the North Korea nuclear issue. Welcome Ag Parent Why Pay Rent? Tfie Heritage Hmun Homes Are available now... Starting in the $ 120’s, 3/2, 3/3, and 2/2 plus two-car garages, security gated, professionally-decorated interiors, TC Custom Home quality construction. 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