President Lee Myung-bak returned home Tuesday wrapping up his 2011 round of East Asian diplomacy conducted through a series of summit talks in mostly duplicating regional frameworks. After attending the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Honolulu, Hawaii, the president took part in three ASEAN-based summit sessions in Bali, Indonesia, and then held talks with Philippine President Benigno Aquino III in Manila on Monday.
The president’s diplomatic circuit also included attendance at the U.N. General Assembly, followed by a state visit to Washington in October, an official visit to Russia and participation in the Cannes G20 summit earlier this month. His frequent overseas trips meant extended absence from Chong Wa Dae, and we have some reservations about whether it was worth it.
He may have appreciated some respite from the headaches of domestic politics, which are mired in the partisan conflict over the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement, but he indeed had heavy diplomatic engagements during the past two months. Especially in Bali, he had collective and exclusive dialogues with East Asian and Pacific Rim leaders, including U.S. President Obama, who hosted the 19th APEC forum and attended the East Asia Summit for the first time.
The APEC forum in Honolulu on Nov. 13 had the theme of “Seamless Regional Economy” but the focus of the one-day meeting was Obama’s call on other regional players to join in the negotiations for an Asia-Pacific trade agreement dubbed the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Japan, Canada and Mexico have shown interest in the TPP, the brainchild of Obama, who wanted to share America’s priorities and values in trade in an apparent attempt to keep China in check.
Lee made no instant reaction, as Seoul gives more importance to a triangular free trade agreement with China and Japan than a framework combining such diverse economies as Australia, New Zealand, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Chile and Peru. He gave the lead address at a business lunch introducing Korea’s deregulation efforts and achievements and the role of the Presidential Council on National Competitiveness in this area.
During both the APEC forum and the East Asia Summit, Obama repeatedly sent a message to China that the U.S. would not concede its presence and influence as a Pacific power. During his visit to Australia on his way to Bali, he announced a plan to establish a Marine base in Darwin, northern Australia. President Lee and other participants in the series of regional summits must have felt the growing delicateness of East Asian politics in the newly unfolding G2 age.
On Friday, Lee held a summit with the heads of the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations members in the morning and then attended the ASEAN Plus Three summit along with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda in the afternoon. The EAS on Saturday assembled the leaders of the ASEAN group, the three Northeast Asian nations and five other regional powers, namely Australia, New Zealand, India, Russia and the United States.
Apart from the broad regional concerns, Lee, Wen and Noda particularly noted the importance of the future function of the trilateral partnership secretariat which opened in Seoul on Sept. 1. They dealt with such practical issues as nuclear safety, disaster control, educational and tourism cooperation and a joint study on a three-way FTA.
Back in Seoul, Lee has no time to rest. The hard task of ratifying the Korea-U.S. FTA awaits him. Every year and during every administration, we have raised the question of the president’s overseas activities being concentrated in September through November when the National Assembly is in a regular session. But the same pattern has continued over the past decade and half.
Particularly this year, the regional summits of APEC and ASEAN turned into occasions of hegemonic contest between the U.S. and its emerging rival in Asia while the repetitive summit sessions have begun to lose substance in tackling the increasingly complex global economic problems. A thorough review of the problem at the domestic and international levels is necessary, although we do not intend to diminish President Lee’s diplomatic endeavors at all.
