Seoul, May 18: President Roh Moo-Hyun has told US president George W Bush he accepts American plans to shift troops from South Korea to Iraq, but some media faulted Roh today for mishandling ties with Washington. Bush telephoned Roh last night to congratulate him on his reinstatement last week from the limbo of impeachment. The 17-minute call came after news broke of US plans to shift 3,600 soldiers to Iraq from South Korea to shore up forces there. Roh's office said he ''expressed understanding'' of the US move and that Bush had said the unavoidable decision did not diminish American pledges to defend South Korea against attack from communist North Korea. But the country's media drew sharp battlelines over the decision to pull almost a tenth of the 37,000 US forces based in South Korea. Conservative newspapers said the anti-US cast of his left-of-centre administration, elected in 2002 on the back of unprecedented street protests again the United States, had contributed to a decision that caught Seoul by surprise.
''The Roh administration ought to know very well the reason our alliance has become so frigid,'' said the editorial in a daily that blamed the president for poor communication between the allies. ‘‘It’s our loss.'' Bureau Report