SEOUL, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- South Korean officials and lawmakers fueled anti-American sentiment here by raising suspicions Saturday that a planned visit to Seoul by President George Bush this month is aimed at promoting the sale of U.S. weapons for protection against potential threats from communist North Korea.
"Chances are high that Bush will ask for South Korea to buy Boeing's F-15 jet fighters during a summit with President Kim Dae-jung," said a senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Bush will make his first visit to South Korea on Feb. 19-21 amid mounting tension between the United States and North Korea. In his recent State of the Union address, Bush accused North Korea of being part of "an axis of evil" that threatens global stability.
U.S. aircraft maker Boeing is one of four foreign bidders vying for South Korea's 4.2 trillion-won ($3.2 billion) program, code-named the "F-X project." French company Dassault's Rafale jet, the Eurofighter consortium's Typhoon 2000 and the Russian Sukhoi Su-32 are competing to win the military contract.
Defense officials said the successful bidder will be announced as early as early April, adding the government will increase the budget to buy fighter jets. "The government plans to make a final decision on the winner at an early date," the Defense Ministry told the National Assembly.
"Bush is expected to use his trip to put pressure on the (Seoul) government to choose Boeing's F-15 fighters," the official said. He cited recent Japanese news reports that Bush would lobby for the F-15 when he meets South Korean officials in a bid to rescue the troubled military aircraft business in the United States.
But President Kim will not give a clear-cut answer to any requests from Bush for political considerations in the selection of the winner of the F-X project, the official said. "Kim will reiterate Seoul's position that it will select the winner...fairly," he said.
Some lawmakers and analysts also said Bush's harsh rhetoric against North Korea was part of U.S. efforts to raise military tensions on the Korean peninsula in order to press South Korea to buy Boeing's fighter jets.
Rep. Kang Chang-song of the opposition Grand National Party blasted the Defense Ministry, saying its fighter procurement guidelines were biased toward the United States for political consideration. "Is the project a present to Bush's trip to Seoul?" he asked. Kang, former military general, pointed out that the F-15, developed in the 1970s, is too outdated for South Korea's "next-generation" fighters.
Opposition lawmaker Park Se-hwan insisted that the "political consideration" means that the procurement project eventually goes to Boeing. South Korea is Washington's key Asian ally in which 37,000 American troops are deployed to help defend it from a potential conflict with North Korea under the bilateral defense treaty in the wake of the 1950-53 Korean War.
The concerns came amid rising anti-U.S. sentiment in South Korea following U.S. Bush's labeling the North as part of "an axis of evil." On Saturday, dozens of South Korean civic activists and college students clashed with riot police as marched toward the U.S. Embassy in central Seoul to protest against Bush's visit.
Kim warned the anti-U.S. sentiment may hurt security alliance between Seoul and Washington. "There is excessive criticism in our society against the United States due to its attitude toward North Korea," he said. "But the U.S-South Korea security alliance is the most important thing for us now."
South Korean police have tightened security around the U. S. embassy and other U.S facilities ahead of Bush's visit.
