Deep divides as S. Korea votes

The move caused a diplomatic scramble between the US, Russia, China, Japan, and South Korea. The spent fuel rods can be turned into weapons- grade fissionable material relatively quickly.

The official US reaction to the North, however, has been mild, with some experts saying the White House does not want to agitate the peninsula prior to the elections in a manner that would aid Roh, whose politics are seen as more welcome in Pyongyang. The Bush team was early on dismissive of the Sunshine Policy. With its architect Kim Dae Jung politically crippled following the investigation last spring of his three sons for corruption, the White House has reportedly been waiting until after the election to shape a policy with the South.

Kim Jong Il's provocative moves last week follow a tempestuous autumn. He admitted in October to US envoy James Kelly that he had a secret program to enrich uranium, a violation of several agreements signed by the North.

Roh's media adviser, Ben Limb, told the Monitor that his candidate, unlike Kim Dae Jung, will subject his North policy to a review by other South Korean leaders, allowing him a way to change policies if dealing with the North becomes untenable. Still, he says, "We must build mutual trust with the North, with Kim Jong Il. Helping the North is an investment in the future."

Lee's adviser, Park Shin-il, counters that the race is "a choice between a guy who is rational and one who is radical. Roh is radical enough to believe that we must give cash with no questions to the North, and to never provoke Kim Jong Il."

The campaign has implicitly reopened a long running debate on US troops here. Roh tacitly supports a questioning of US troops - while Lee supports the harder-line policies of the Bush White House and troops.

In the end, it may be local politics that make the difference. Typical of South Korean elections, the race sets the southwest region of Cholla-do - which is agricultural, historically deprived, and overwhelmingly pro-Millennium Party - against the eastern region which has been the traditional seedbed of rulers and nobility, and which is overwhelmingly GNP. (The south and east may vote as high as 90 percent for the MDP and GNP respectively.)

That regional split has campaigns searching for swing votes. For example, a recent promise by Roh to move 500,000 government employees from Seoul to the undecided Chungchong region seems to be backfiring. Roh's idea of a new administrative capital, apart from coming across as cavalier and a bit pandering, has caused a reaction among voters in Seoul. Roh says the idea will help traffic in the city. But so far, that explanation hasn't sold.

One computer technician says he was planning to vote for Roh but is now switching to Lee. "I just don't trust that kind of change," he says.

The race tightened measurably three weeks ago when World Cup soccer chief and candidate Chung Mong-joon joined Roh. But some of Roh's votes may be drained by far-left Korean Democratic Labor Party candidate Kwon Young-gil, who was instrumental in organizing the 50,000 strong anti-US protest in a downtown plaza in Seoul on Saturday.

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