Park affirms ‘trustpolitik,’ economy unfazed by N.K. tension

NEW YORK -- President Park Geun-hye stressed Sunday (Monday Korea time) Seoul will leave the door open for dialogue with North Korea to defuse tension and start a mutual trust-building process.

In a meeting with Korean Americans in New York, she also assured the South Korean economy is unfazed by the geopolitical risk evidenced by the stable financial markets and businesses’ commitment to investment.

Park arrived in the Big Apple in the afternoon on her first overseas trip as president. She is scheduled to meet U.S. President Barack Obama Tuesday (Wednesday Korea time).

“The South Korean government is ready against any provocation with sturdy deterrence but also holds the door for dialogue open at all times,” Park told some 450 participants who gathered at a dinner party at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.

“I will open the road to common development of the two Koreas through the trust-building process of the Korean Peninsula whenever North Korea stops its provocations and chooses to take the right path recognized by the international community.”

North Korea has raised tension in recent months, declaring the nullification of the 1953 armistice agreement, threatening a nuclear attack, and pulling out all of its workers from the Gaeseong industrial complex, the last remaining inter-Korean cooperation project.

Despite weeks of heightened jitters, she emphasized that the Korean economy and the financial market had been stable and domestic and that foreign firms were releasing new investment plans.

“It is evident that the whole world knows that our economy is cannot be shaken by North Korean threats,” Park said.

During the summit, Park and Obama are set to reaffirm the two countries’ solid cooperation against any security threat posed by the North.

Park is also expected to seek for her U.S. counterpart’s understanding and endorsement of her “trustpolitik” doctrine. She envisions a double-track approach to Pyongyang based on the principle that provocations should meet strong retaliation while other commitments will be equally reciprocated. It remains to be seen how well the vision is explained by Park and how far Obama would be willing to endorse it.

Park and Obama will be adopting the “Joint Declaration” upgrading the two country’s 60-year-old alliance from the comprehensive strategic alliance to a “global partnership.”

“This first overseas trip since (Park’s) inauguration is extremely important in a way that the new government is setting the direction of the development of the alliance in the future with the U.S., the biggest ally,” said Ju Chul-ki, senior secretary for foreign affairs and security.

Park’s visit is expected to highlight the two governments’ efforts to broaden their alliance to nonmilitary issues in order to set the global partnership in stone.

The security-oriented alliance between Seoul and Washington has been evolving into a comprehensive partnership to encompass wider pan-global issues.

On Seoul’s part, Park is likely to advocate a wider reciprocal cooperation, namely an enhanced cooperation for South Korea’s peaceful use of nuclear power and smooth implementation of the two’s free trade agreement. The two presidents are also expected to discuss how the cost of stationing U.S. Forces Korea is shared.

Park and Obama are also expected to take the opportunity to proclaim consistent fortification of the joint defense posture, while bolstering the foundations for unification between the two Koreas and managing crises on the Korean Peninsula and in the surrounding areas.

Seoul and Washington’s alliance also faces the task of preparing ahead of the transfer of wartime OPCON scheduled in 2015 and must settle on how to forge a new combined military command structure.

By Lee Joo-hee / Korea Herald correspondent (jhl@heraldcorp.com)