GNP opposed to impending handover of military control
Speaking to members of the ruling Uri Party on the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee during a get-together at the Blue House on August 16, president Roh Moo-hyun said he believes the issue of Korea claiming wartime command of its military is not something that needs to be the subject of a national referendum. The main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) is opposed to Korea gaining wartime command by the current administration’s proposed time frame and is calling for a national vote on the matter. The Roh administration is pushing for command handover in 2012, while the U.S. has proposed the date of 2009. Individuals at the meeting said that when Uri National Defense Committee staffer An Yeong-geun suggested to President Roh that he go ahead and ask for a referendum, he said simply, "This is not an issue that requires one.""We are not handing over wartime command; we are getting it back," he went on to say. "This was something pursued since the government of Roh Tae-woo, and is not something that needs to be put to a national referendum." President Roh Tae-woo was instrumental in forming the political party that today is the GNP. Article 72 of the constitution states that national referendums may be held on issues of profound importance to the security and well-being of the state. But the Blue House is reported to have concluded that the changes President Roh would like to see are questions of how national security is managed, rather than something that would directly threaten security, making the issue ineligible for referendum. Henry Hyde, chairman of the U.S. House Committee on International Relations, issued a statement on Wednesday that supports transferring wartime command. Having exchanged views with President Roh and reviewed the status of U.S. forces here as well as the alliance between the two countries, he thinks it is "more than time" for Korea to be independent about its defense. "Americans welcome transferring wartime command as Korea so desires," he said. Hyde is a veteran of the Korean War and visited Korea for the first time in 25 years on August 9-11.
