In a highly protracted move meant to appease both voters at home and friends to the north, South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun played tag through a bad translator for a couple minutes backstage at APEC on Friday, chasing U.S. President George W. Bush around a the room before a packed room of reporters.

However, while the American media, perhaps unenthralled by the economic conference itself, presented the situation as a fracas, there was no such reporting here on the Korean side. While the exchange was reported, there was no emphasis on an argument between Bush and Roh.

The JoonAng Daily, an English language version of the newspaper JoongAng Ilbo, ran the headline “Peace treaty offered in nuclear arms trade-off,” emphasizing the fact that President Bush would permit a peace treaty if North Korea verifiably gives up its weapons program.

Naver.com, the most popular web-portal in Korea reported much the same thing, quoting Bush directly in its front page teaser, emphasizing that a “harmonious structure” with Kim Jong-il was within reach. It also chose to run the photo below.

As opposed to this, used by CNN via AP

As was emphasized by by White House spokeswoman Dana Perino, the exchange, specifically the repetition of “thank you” by Bush, seems to have been a result of unclear translations rather than anger.

It should be noted that the South Korean presidential election is in December, and as New York Times blogger Mike Nizza pointed out:

When a baseball manager confronts the umpire over a bad call, he rarely succeeds. And in extreme cases, he may spend the rest of the game in the clubhouse. But he’ll leave behind a team that’s fired up, which may be the whole point.

Indeed, Roh’s upcoming date with Pyongyang, which was originally scheduled to take place in late August, but had to be postponed until October due to a flooding tragedy in North Korea, was also part of this gambit.

One would imagine North Korean leader Kim Jong-il would interpret the exchange between Roh and Bush as a positive sign that South Korea is indeed willing to work as an arbiter in negotiations with the U.S. This is a role that South Korea has been eager to take on.

We at East Windup Chronicle look forward to bringing you continuous coverage of the upcoming elections from streets of South Korea.