What ASEM means to South Korea

What ASEM means to South Korea

SEOUL: The third Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), attended by
leaders from 25 nations in Asia and Europe and the European Union
Commission, was opened in Seoul on Friday. Coming just as they
emerge from their worst-ever economic crisis -- one that entailed
huge costs and sacrifice -- Koreans have high expectations of
this meeting, the largest diplomatic event ever to be hosted by
the country. We hope the Seoul ASEM, above all, will help Koreans
boost the international credibility of their economy.

Although being hailed as embodying one of the most successful
cases of overcoming the Asian financial crisis, the Korean
economy is facing many challenges, both inside and out. The
outlook for the economy is gloomy, with the second round of
restructuring in the financial and corporate sectors still under
way.

Such outside factors as the high international price of crude
oil and the falling price of semiconductors also make serious
ripples in the recovering economy. We Koreans hope that the Asian
and European leaders will be able to renew their understanding
about Korea while they attend the ASEM in Seoul.

The Seoul session of ASEM means even more to Koreans as it is
held in the midst of historic reconciliation between South and
North. Since the June summit between the leaders of the two
Koreas, the once reclusive Communist North Korea is quickly
moving toward changing its relationships with Western countries.

One of the most noticeable examples of such efforts is the
move to improve ties with the United States, which looks like it
will soon bear fruit.

While the new relations between Seoul and Pyongyang and
between Pyongyang and Washington are believed to contribute to
reducing the possibility of another war on the Korean Peninsula,
there also are increasing uncertainties in political situations
on the peninsula.

We expect ASEM leaders to extend their full support for South-
North reconciliation, which we believe is essential to the
formation of a new political order on the Korean Peninsula and
Northeast Asia.

The session also comes on the heels of the awarding of the
Nobel Peace Prize to President Kim Dae-jung. We hope that his
winning of this prestigious award has helped the world leaders
enhance their interest in Korean issues.

The third ASEM in Seoul, we believe, also bears special
significance for the future development of this body that tries
to link these two major regions in the world -- Asia and Europe.
The ASEM was born four years ago with the aim of increasing
cooperation in political, economic, cultural and other fields
between the two regions.

The first session in Bangkok in 1996 was largely a place where
the member countries defined the framework of their cooperation.
The second session in London in 1998 had to be dominated by the
financial crisis that hit Asia in 1997.

Now that the Asian members have overcome the crisis to a
certain degree, we expect the ASEM countries to start full-scale
discussions on the detailed framework of cooperation and the
future of the body in this Seoul session. ASEM is a new
experiment in inter-regional cooperation. Asia and Europe share
fewer commonalities than Europe and America, and Asia and America
do.

In order to overcome the possible conflicts deriving from
differences in cultures and values as well as the level of
economic development, member countries are required to exert
extraordinary efforts, whose success, in fact, will direct the
success of ASEM. We hope that the member countries will lay firm
groundwork for future cooperation between Asia and Europe during
the Seoul meeting.

Another important aspect of ASEM, to Korea and many other
Asian countries, is that it can help them to diversify
international relations.

The geographic location of Korea, surrounded by three --
counting the strong influence of the United States, four -- major
world powers, has inevitably made the country concentrate on
diplomacy toward these countries for a long time.

While good relations with the four big powers still remain
critical to Korea economically and politically, the necessity to
diversify relations has been continuously raised. ASEM is
certainly the very mechanism that will help Korea and its Asian
neighbors to widen their diplomatic scope beyond Asia and the
Pacific.

-- The Korea Herald / Asia News Network