What is South Korea's President Thinking?
What does South Korea's president, Roh Moo-hyun, regard as "the most important task facing the nation" ②at this juncture?
He has plenty to choose from. Firstly, there's the problem of North Korea. Furthermore, there is the issue of U.S. relations. The U.S. plans to withdraw 37000 troops from South Korea before the end of 2005. This means that South Korea has to improve its own defense abilities as quickly as possible.
Then there's the economy. How to get consumers spending again after being burned in the recent credit card debt crunch? Or longer-term (but the clock is ticking): How to deal with rising competition in China and make the tough leap into services and top-end manufacture?
All these are weighty tasks. More than enough, you might think, to keep South Korea's newly restored leader occupied for the four remaining years in office. But Roh Moo-hyun has other priorities. For him, "the most important task facing the nation is to ensure regional uniformity through decentralization". President Roh wants to spread economic development throughout the country and, as part of this effort, has been looking to move the capital from Seoul to a southern part of the country.
The planning process for this is now ③in full swing, heavy lobbying by potential beneficiary regions is taking place, and opposition from people in Seoul (worried about a fall in property values and a loss of influence) is growing. There are now calls for going more slowly with this process and/or doing a referendum, but the president is resisting so far, arguing that the back to back electoral victories provide a mandate for this change.Despite denying one now, a referendum may be Roh Moo-hHyun's best way forward - or way out. (Last year, months after taking office, he called one on his own stewardship; this would have been unconstitutional, and it was dropped.) Otherwise, his not-so-capital idea threatens to become yet another long-running bone of contention in an already divided society and a big distraction from South Korea's real security and economic challenges.
韩国总统在考虑什么？
在这个节骨眼上，韩国总统卢武铉把什么看作是“该国面对的首要任务”呢？
他有许多选择。首先就是朝鲜问题。而且，还有与美国的关系问题。美国计划在2005年底以前从韩国撤出3.7万名士兵。这就意味着韩国需要尽快提升自身防卫能力。
还有，经济也是一个问题。在消费群体陷入信用卡透支危机后，如何促使他们再度消费？或者从更长远的角度来看（但时间不等人）:如何应对中国的竞争并在服务业与高端产品制造业上艰难地快速发展？
这些全都是重中之重的问题。而且你会认为，这些问题已经绰绰有余，足够这位刚刚复职、又可以再掌权4年的韩国领导人忙的了。但卢武铉却有其它的优先处理事项。对他来讲，“该国面对的首要任务是通过向地方分散的方式来确保地区的均衡发展”。卢总统想要全国在经济上都有发展，为了这一目标，他一直在寻求把首都从汉城迁到该国南方。
目前，实施这一举措的规划进程正在全力展开，潜在的获益地区正在极力游说，而汉城人（担心地产贬值、失去影响力）的反对呼声也在日益高涨。现在就有人呼吁放缓这一进程，并且/或者进行公投，但是总统到目前为止都是持抵制态度，他辩解说，在一次又一次的选举中他取得了胜利，这说明人民是支持他实施这一举措的。尽管卢武铉现在是反对公投的，但公投可能是他取得进展的最佳方式——或者说是出路。（去年，在他就职几个月后，他自己就要求举行公投；这不符合宪法，因而没有举行。）否则，他的这个并非万全之策的主意是有危险的，在这个已然分裂的社会中，它可能会成为另一个久拖不绝的争议焦点，会使韩国难于集中精力解决真正的安全问题并应对经济挑战。
judiciary /_u(:)`diHi9ri/ adj.司法的；法院的
metropolitan /metr9`p4lit(9)n/ adj.主要都市的
panel /`p2nl/ n.公开讨论小组
undermine /,7nd9`main/ v.破坏
hub /h7b/ n.中心
crunch /kr7ntH/ n.危境；关键时刻
uniformity /,j6ni`f5miti/ n.一致；均匀
decentralization /d1,sentr9lai`zeiH9n/ n.分散；排除集中
lobby /`l4bi/ vt.游说；疏通
beneficiary /beni`fiH9ri/ n.受惠者；受益人
referendum /,ref9`rend9m/ n.公民投票
mandate /`m2ndeit/ n.选民授予政府的权力
distraction /dis`tr2kH9n/ n.分心的事物
① account for 占
② at this juncture 在这个节骨眼上
③ in full swing 热烈地进行
