“Korea-New Zealand Partnership in the Asia-Pacific Era” HE Mr Yongkyu Park at the New Zealand Asia Institute Conference on “ New Zealand, Korea & Asia-pacific: From Distance to Closeness” 16-17 November 2012 at University of Auckland The Embassy of the Republic of Korea Wellington, New Zealand www.facebook.com/nzkoreanembassy www.koreanembassy.org.nz
Check against delivery (Introduction) Prof. Stuart McCutcheon, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Auckland, Ambassador Andrea Smith, Deputy Secretary of MFAT, Prof. Hugh Whittaker, Director of NZ Asia Institute, Dr. Richard Phillips, Director of the Korean Studies, Distinguished participants, Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to, first of all, express my sincere thanks to the NZ Asia Institute and the University of Auckland for hosting this conference on the happy occasion of the Korea-New Zealand Year of Friendship marking the 50 th anniversary of the diplomatic ties between our two countries. I also wish to take this opportunity to convey my appreciation to the University of Auckland and Asia Institute for their contributions in promoting friendship and mutual understanding between us as the centre of the Korean studies in New Zealand. This conference provides us a timely opportunity to reflect upon our achievements in the past half century as well as to prepare for our shared future in the next half century. I am very pleased to partake in this exciting intellectual exercise to share ideas and wisdom with the most knowledgeable scholars and experts on various issues of our mutual interest. I titled my speech “Korea-New Zealand Partnership in the Asia- Pacific Era” in line with the key theme of the Conference. Today I wish to share my thoughts on three key topics; First, I wish to make a brief observation on the current situation in the Asia-Pacific region and discuss the major opportunities and challenges confronting us. Second, I will see what roles our two countries could play and what contributions we could make in the region. Third and finally, I wish to review the current state of our partnership and its future vision. 1
Check against delivery (Arrival of the Asia-Pacific Era and challenges) It is rather a cliché to say that the 21 st century is the Asia-Pacific century. Almost half of the world population lives in the region, 57% of world GDP, 48% of global trade and 40% of foreign investment are produced by the Asia-Pacific countries. They are critical engines of the global economy. Despite global economic slowdown and the Euro-zone crisis, the Asia- Pacific economies are sustaining relatively strong growth, providing critical relief for the world economy. Along with growing economic clout, the Asia-Pacific is playing a greater role in the world affairs. US Secretary of State. Mrs. Clinton rightly said the Asia-Pacific has become a key driver of global politics. Indeed the balance of power in global economy and politics is rapidly shifting to the Asia-Pacific, particularly since the 2008 global financial crisis. However all is not well in the Asia-Pacific. What are the problems and challenges confronting the region? The most striking feature in the Asia-Pacific region is the mismatch and divide between economics and politics. Economic interdependence is growing and diverse efforts are being made for deeper integration. At the same time, the region is fraught with heightened tensions, territorial disputes, rising nationalism and arms race. In short, both stabilizing factors and destabilizing factors coexist, which provide opportunities as well as challenges for us. On the positive side, there have been continuous efforts to strengthen regional cooperation architecture in various fields ranging from economic integration, military confidence-building, coping with common challenges like climate change to strengthening people to people links. Proliferation of intra-regional organizations is a most distinctive feature, to some extent overlapping in membership and scope of activities. To name only a few: ASEAN+3, APEC, EAS, ARF, ADMM+. 2
Check against delivery There are also wide-ranging bilateral and multilateral FTA networks, some already in force and others on the drawing board such as TPP, EAFTA, CEPEA, RCEP, and FTAAP. These cooperative frameworks provide historic opportunities for peace and co-prosperity of the Asia-Pacific countries. However, the region is facing serious risks and challenges as well. I will briefly touch upon three of the most talked about challenges confronting us right now. The most urgent challenge is maritime territorial disputes between and among the countries in the region with no signs of amicable early resolution. Especially disputes between China and Japan in the East China Sea and between China and several ASEAN countries in the South China Sea are not only threatening stability in the region but also taking toll on their economies as a whole. What can we do? Each dispute has its unique historical, nationalistic, geo-strategic and economic compulsions, so there is no one-size-fits-all solution. In my view, these disputes are more about national identity, history, pride and sentiments than economic or strategic interests and legal justification. Accordingly, the first step for peaceful solution is to have a correct understanding of historical backgrounds and to try to understand the other party’s feelings. The US-China relation poses more fundamental long term challenge. There is a growing concern that US-China relations might deteriorate with the rise of China and the US rebalancing toward Asia. Despite their deep economic interdependence and mutual recognition of the need for constructive partnership, they might fall into a classic great power game due to their rivalry and strategic competition in the region. The key question is how China will use its rapidly growing economic, military, and diplomatic powers? Will it remain faithful to peaceful rise or take more aggressive policies pursuing prestige and influence as a global power? To ask the question from the other side, how the West and the US will respond to China’s inevitable rise? 3
Check against delivery The big challenge for many countries in the region including Korea and New Zealand is how to harmonize their relations with the US and China. For Korea, China is the largest trading and economic partner with US$ 220 Billion trade volume in 2011, which is more than its trades with US and Japan combined. China is also a crucial diplomatic partner for peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and peaceful resolution of the North Korean question, which I will address shortly. On the other hand, Korea-US security alliance is the linchpin of Korea’s security and the US is a major economic partner with a FTA. In addition, US-Korea partnership based upon shared values is developing into a global partnership in addressing global challenges like proliferation of WMD, terrorism, piracy, peace-keeping, climate change and development assistance. In short, major deterioration of US-China relations will pose unpalatable dilemmas for all of us. It is our common interest to do whatever we can to avoid this worst case scenario. The third challenge is North Korea. North Korea remains the major source of instability and threat to peace in the Asia-Pacific. North Korea poses four sets of challenges to us. First is its nuclear and missile program, which I will not go into details right now as this topic will be discussed in another Session. Second is its continued conventional provocations, the latest cases were the torpedoing South Korean navy ship Cheoan and shelling of Yeonpyong island in 2010, which once again reminded us grave threats posed by North Korea.. Third is its domestic instability due to dysfunctional political and economic systems inherited by the 3th generation dynastic succession to young new leader Kim Jong-Un. There are some speculations that Kim might change policies for the better as he is showing different style from his father. However, it is too early to tell if his new style will lead to new policies. 4
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