New S. Korean envoy feels comfortable in Indonesia

Veeramalla Anjaiah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Attempt the impossible in order to improve your work. This has been the main motto of South Korea's new ambassador to Indonesia, Lee Sun-jin, during his entire diplomatic career.

Traveling to foreign countries was a childhood dream for Ambassador Lee, who loves to work on difficult things. Being born into a poor family in 1948 -- especially at a time of war (the Korean War, 1950-1953) -- Lee's dream looked impossible.

Thanks to his strong determination though, his dream became a reality when he passed the difficult High Diplomatic Service Examination in 1975, right after graduating from Seoul National University's Department of International Relations.

Known as a China expert at the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT), Ambassador Lee became a sort of troubleshooter at the ministry. He always received the toughest assignments and he usually succeeded at them. But he preferred a behind-the-scene role in most cases, which often were sensitive in nature.

For a country like South Korea, which has been technically at war with its neighbor North Korea for more than five decades, it was very difficult to improve relations with Communist China.

Thanks to the hard work of Lee and his colleagues at the China Desk at the MOFAT, today South Korea enjoys friendly relations with China, a key engine in the world economy.

"It was my personal ambition to become an expert on China. I learned the most difficult Chinese language and acquainted myself with Chinese affairs. I realized the importance of having good relations with China," Lee, who submitted his credentials to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on June 29, 2005, told The Jakarta Post in an exclusive interview recently at his residence in South Jakarta.

Lee worked as a consul at the Korean Consulate General in Hong Kong from 1990 to 1992. From Hong Kong, he went to Beijing to work as a counselor from 1992-1995 and again in 2002 to Shanghai as consul-general. He was also the director of the China Desk at the MOFAT in 1989 for 16 months.

Lee, who is married and has one son and one daughter, also contributed to the improvement in South Korean and Japanese relations during his two-year stint (1998-2000) in Tokyo as minister-counselor at the Korean Embassy in Tokyo. He also had two postings in the U.S., a close political and military ally of South Korea.

After his success at the China Desk, Lee gained prominence when he moved to a more challenging section -- policy planning and international organizations -- in 2001.

As a director general and later deputy ministry for policy planning and international organizations, Lee -- who loves reading and plays golf once a week -- was involved in almost all South Korean foreign policy moves, be it an Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) or South Korea's nuclear program.

Every diplomat is not a good negotiator. And every good negotiator is not a diplomat. But Lee is a master of both diplomacy and negotiation.

Lee has taken part in various international negotiations, including with his North Korean counterparts.

"Me and Indonesia's Arizal Effendi worked closely for the success of the ASEM summit in Hanoi last year. I also attended the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) meeting in Jakarta," Lee said.

Arizal is the director general for American and European Affairs at the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Lee said the posting in Jakarta was his first posting in Southeast Asia.

"This is my first posting in this region. I am a newcomer. But I have been following closely the developments in Southeast Asia. And I am one of those South Korean diplomats who support the idea that South Korea must have an active engagement with Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia, the largest nation in the region," Lee, who is fluent in Korean, English, Chinese and Japanese, said.

Lee said he would try to learn Bahasa Indonesia during his stay here.

South Korea, according to Lee, is beginning to give greater importance to its relations with Indonesia and Southeast Asia. Earlier, its focus was mainly on Northeast Asia.

"Things are changing very fast in the Chinese economy. We should not depend too much on China. We should expand to Southeast Asia. This is our vision," Lee said.

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun rightly picked the troubleshooter Lee for this mission to Jakarta.

The only difference this time is that it should not be too difficult job to accomplish his mission in Jakarta, given the countries' close relations.

"Jakarta occupies a special place in our foreign policy agenda. In the last two years, our Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan and Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon have met with their North Korean counterparts and had fruitful discussions. These meetings were not held in Beijing or Seoul but here in Jakarta, thanks to the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs," Lee said.

When asked about his impression of Jakarta, Lee said the weather is like summer in South Korea. But the only difference is sometimes it rains here.

"I like Indonesia very much. I am comfortable here like in my home in Korea. The Indonesian people are very friendly. I admire President Susilo's determination to curb corruption and improve good governance. When I met the President while submitting my credentials, we were discussing good governance. The President corrected me, saying he wanted better governance not good governance," Lee said jokingly.

Lee said his main mission in Indonesia was to enhance the existing relations between South Korea and Indonesia.