Lee's Goodwill Gesture to Contributes to Korea-China Ties
President Lee Myung-bak's visit to earthquake-hit Sichuan Province Friday shows his eagerness to boost mutual friendship and trust between South Korea and China. During his three-hour stay in the natural disaster area, Lee expressed his condolences to the Chinese people suffering from the tragedy. He has become the first head of state to travel to the devastated province.
Lee's action reminds us of an adage: A friend in need is a friend indeed. We hope that the South Korean president's goodwill gesture will bring hope and courage to the grief-stricken Chinese. Our hearts go out to the victims, while hoping for a speedy recovery from the disaster. During his visit, a South Korean military plane arrived in Chengdu, the capital of the Chinese province, carrying 380 million won ($362,000) worth of relief goods.
He committed to providing more relief supplies and dispatching more rescue workers to help the Chinese. The Seoul government has already provided $3 million in cash and relief goods to China, while sending 44 relief workers to the ravaged areas. We positively back Lee's efforts to share the pain and sorrow of the Chinese people.
President Lee returned home Friday evening after winding up his four-day state visit to the neighboring country. Under the slogan of pragmatic diplomacy, Lee produced substantial results by agreeing to upgrade Sino-South Korea relations to a ``strategic cooperative partnership.'' During their summit talks Tuesday, Lee and Chinese President Hu Jintao agreed to expand bilateral cooperation in the sphere of global collaboration on such issues as climate change, terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.
The two leaders shared the view that the new partnership is crucial to promoting peace and stability not only on the Korean Peninsula but also in Northeast Asia. China is also playing a key role in ending North Korea's nuclear programs by hosting the six-nation denuclearization talks, thus exercising a positive influence on inter-Korean relations. The two countries have succeeded in expanding their economic ties, with China becoming South Korea's No. 1 trading partner, while South Korea is China's third-largest trading partner.
However, Seoul and Beijing will have to overcome obstacles in attempting to forge a real partnership. It seems that China is casting a doubtful eye on Lee's attempt to strengthen the traditional Korea-U.S. alliance. It is regrettable that China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Tuesday that South Korea's military alliance with the United States was a holdover from the past Cold War confrontation. The comment drew angry reactions from Koreans who saw the remark as inappropriate, particularly as it was made on the first day of Lee's trip to China.
We have to admit that President Lee faces mounting challenges to his pragmatic diplomacy with the ``Big-Four" powers ― the U.S., Japan, China and Russia. The Lee administration ought to refine its diplomatic policies to maintain a balance in the power structure surrounding the peninsula to ensure peace, co-existence and co-prosperity.
[출처 : 코리아타임스]
