[Editorial] Blessed ties

President Park Geun-hye’s U.S. visit culminated in her address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, in which she tried to win American hearts and put forward a vision for upgrading the alliance between Seoul and Washington that marks its 60th anniversary this year.

She emphatically used such words as peace, future, trust, alliance and freedom in the speech delivered in English, drawing numerous rounds of applause from the audience.

Park’s congressional address followed her first summit with U.S. President Barack Obama a day earlier. Through their Oval Office meeting, working luncheon and a joint news conference, the two leaders demonstrated a united front against North Korea. They made it clear the allies would respond resolutely to any provocation from the North, while keeping the door open to eventual talks with the isolated regime on the condition it take a peaceful path. Their stance was epitomized by Obama’s remarks that the days when the North could elicit concessions by creating a crisis were over. Through their agreement, Obama endorsed Park’s approach of building trust with Pyongyang as long as it honored its international commitments and obligations, while maintaining a firm security posture.

Her aides say Park’s trip has laid the groundwork for upgrading the South Korea-U.S. alliance based on security and economic pillars into a more comprehensive cooperation backed by shared values and trust. Due appreciation needs to be given to her long-term vision for the alliance, which she described in a meeting with a group of U.S. legislators last month as “the most successful alliance in history.”

As Park noted in her congressional speech, the two countries need to gradually enhance the level of their alliance from serving to achieve the peaceful unification of the Korean Peninsula to expanding partnership on the regional and global stage.

The momentum for further deepening and widening the alliance is stronger than ever in South Korea, where nearly 80 percent of respondents in a recent survey expressed a favorable view of the U.S., up from 52 percent a decade earlier.

In more immediate terms, the two sides face the task of implementing the transition of wartime operational control to Seoul in a way that boosts, not weakens, their joint defense posture, and revising a nuclear accord to accommodate South Korea’s commercial needs.

Whether their alliance becomes fully mature may be tested or proved by how accommodating the U.S. is toward South Korea’s efforts to expand its strategic partnership with China.

Going beyond their partly choreographed show of solidarity, Park and Obama appeared to try to develop a personal chemistry ― with considerable success. During the luncheon at the White House, Park said that she and Obama had much in common, noting both of their names included the meaning of “blessing.” It is hoped that their close relationship will be another blessing for further promoting the alliance of their nations.