My Impression of Korea - Korea.net

DIPLOMACY
Yonhap
Yonhap
President Lee Myung-bak shakes
hands with French President Nicolas
Sarkozy (center) and European
Commission President Jose Manuel
Barroso in Beijing on Oct. 25
Korean President Lee Myung-bak (center, front row) and other leaders from Asian and European countries pose for a group photo during the opening ceremony of
the seventh ASEM summit in Beijing on Oct. 24
President Lee Seeks Global Efforts to
Overcome Financial Crisis
Korean President Lee Myung-bak
called for overhauling the roles
and functions of the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World
Bank in order for the world to overcome
the current financial turmoil and
prevent the recurrence of a similar crisis
in the future.
In a keynote speech at the opening
session of the Asia-Europe Meeting
(ASEM) summit in Beijing on Oct. 24,
Lee asserted that emerging Asian
economies should be allowed to reflect
their positions in the restructuring of
the international financial organizations.
“The existing international financial
system did not function properly
because it failed to keep pace with
globalization, revolutions in information
and technology, as well as the
rapidly changing international economic
environment in general,” said
Lee. “In light of this, we hope to see
discussions take place that will
strengthen the role and function of the
IMF and the World Bank, whereby we
will have an improved mechanism
equipped with an early warning and
surveillance system, effectively warning
us of possible dangers.”
The biennial ASEM summit
opened in Beijing on Oct. 24, with the
global financial crisis the key focus of
attention among participating leaders
of 43 member nations and heads of
the European Commission and the
ASEAN Secretariat. ASEM nations account
for roughly 60 percent of the
world’s gross domestic product.
Earlier, leaders of Korea, China,
Japan and 10 member states of the
Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) met over breakfast
in Beijing and agreed to create an
US$80 billion joint fund by next June
to fight regional financial crises.
The so-called ASEAN Plus Three
countries also agreed to push for the
establishment of a regional economic
surveillance organization to ensure
greater financial stability in the region.
Before concluding the speech, Lee
expressed high expectations for the
Group of 20 summit slated for mid-
November in Washington D.C., saying
that the upcoming summit meeting
is expected to generate “substantive
and productive” results through
closer consultations between emerging
and advanced economies. Lee is
scheduled to attend the Group of 20
summit. ■
A Series of
Bilateral Summits
Lee Calls for
Korea’s Leading Role
in Global Economic
Order Change
Speaking at the World Leaders Forum in Seoul
on Oct. 30, Korean President Lee Myung-bak
called for Korea’s leading role in reshaping the
international economic order. The one-day forum,
hosted by the South Korean government
in commemoration of its 60th founding anniversary,
brought together scores of influential
world leaders and prominent academics,
including 15 former heads of state.
“At the financial crisis summit scheduled in
Washington on Nov. 15, I will commit myself
to promoting international cooperation on
measures to reinvigorate the world economy,
including the reorganization of the international
financial system,” Lee said.
Yonhap
On the sidelines of the ASEM conference,
President Lee held separate talks with leaders
from France, Poland, Denmark, Vietnam and
Japan.
President Lee and Japanese Prime Minister
Taro Aso agreed to cooperate more closely in
combating the global financial crisis and accelerating
the denuclearization of North Korea.
The two leaders also agreed to resume bilateral
shuttle summit diplomacy, long suspended
following the outbreak of bilateral territorial
and historical conflicts earlier this year.
Korea and Vietnam agreed to further widen
“comprehensive partnership relations” by intensively
promoting closer cooperation in the
fields of economy, investment, education and
tourism, Korean officials said.
The agreement was reached at a summit
between President Lee and Vietnamese
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk asked
for greater Korean participation in its massive
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir
bin Mohamad said “Korea emerged only after
the (1950-53) war and therefore its experience
is quite new. I am quite sure Koreans remember
the difficulties they had faced in developing
their country.” “I think South Korea
can still play this role to provide the region
with a model. I am quite sure even China
must have learned something from Korea's
development.”
infrastructure expansion projects, including
the construction of atomic power plants, Lee’s
spokesman said.
Lee’s summit with French President
Nicolas Sarkozy on Oct. 25 produced an
agreement to cooperate on concluding ongoing
free trade agreement negotiations between
Korea and the European Union by the
end of this year.
Lee and Sarkozy also agreed to cooperate
closely to produce substantive agreements to
fight the global financial crisis at the Group of
20 summit slated for mid-November in
Washington D.C.
Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the
European Commission, was also on hand at
the Lee-Sarkozy meeting to call for a swift
conclusion of Korea-EU FTA negotiations. ■
President Lee attends (center) attends the World Leaders Forum in Seoul on Oct. 30
Francis Fukuyama of Johns Hopkins
University said while many have talked about
Korea's economic miracle, there has been a
political miracle as well. “Korea has gone from
a dictatorship to a functioning democracy in a
single generation,” he said.
Former U.S. Defense Secretary William S.
Cohen called on South Korea to continue
such efforts to weather the financial crisis and
bring lasting peace to the peninsula. ■
12 KOREA NOVEMBER 2008
NOVEMBER 2008 KOREA 13