Wednesday, November 7, 2012

(News Focus) Obama faces test of ties with S. Korea's new president


From a ROK-US Alliance perspective this quote is spot on:

   "In terms of future relations between Korea and the U.S., what's more important is who will take the presidential office in Korea, rather than a foreign-policy direction by the Obama second term," said Chun Chae-sung, a professor of international relations at Seoul National University.

The credit does go to President Lee who whomever succeeds him is the key to the future of the Alliance:

Much of the current bilateral intimacy is due to Lee, whose single five-year term ends in February of next year. By law, a South Korean president cannot seek re-election.

And I think the first order of business after both Presidents are inaugurated in 2013 will be to reaffirm the 2009 Joint Vision which includes as the strategic end state the peaceful unification of the Peninsula (with of course the peaceful part dependent on how the Kim Family Regimes votes on that issue)

2012/11/07 14:12 KST


(News Focus) Obama faces test of ties with S. Korea's new president

SEOUL, Nov. 7 (Yonhap) -- With U.S. President Barack Obama winning re-election, no major changes are likely in relations with South Korea, but the bilateral cooperation could be tested by the outcome of next month's presidential vote here, analysts said Wednesday.

   Relations between the allies have been arguably at their best state in nearly a decade. Reflecting the closeness, Obama declared the bilateral alliance "the lynchpin" for security in the Pacific region in 2010, describing South Korea as the most significant U.S. partner in the region.

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