The leaders of the 21 countries participating in the 17th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Singapore issued a special statement on Sunday vowing to create a free trade agreement encompassing the Asia Pacific region.

In 1994, APEC member countries announced the Bogor Goals, in which Canada, Japan and the U.S. would enact free trade agreements by 2010 and the others, including Korea, by 2020. The concept of the Free Trade Area of the Asia–Pacific announced in 2006 presented clearer objectives.

The goal envisioned by APEC is to create a community that mirrors the European Union. After World War II came first the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952, then the European Economic Community in 1958, the Customs Union in 1968, a consolidated European market in 1992, the Economic and Monetary Union and the launch of a common currency in 1999, and eventually the creation of the European Union. But 15 years after the Bogor Goals were announced, APEC has been unable to take even the first step toward economic consolidation. There is just a year left before the world's advanced countries are to enact free trade according to the Bogor Goals, but the U.S. is unable to ratify an FTA signed with Korea in 2007.

The basic goal of APEC is to achieve closer unity between Southeast Asian countries and North and South America, including the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Chile, and even Russia. The combined economies of APEC member countries account for 45 percent of global trade and 53 percent of the world's GDP. European consolidation was possible because there was common ground in their Christian cultural background, a shared tradition of democracy and the fact that the countries were part of the western alliance against the former Soviet Union and its satellite states during the Cold War. But the religious, cultural and ethnic backgrounds of APEC member countries are vastly different, and there is no common political stance that could unite them.

Recently, Tokyo proposed tying Korea, China and Japan into an East Asian community first and then expanding into other Asian countries. China also feels this would be more realistic than an APEC community. China and Japan have been passive about a bilateral FTA, but both have shown a lot of interest in forming one with Korea. That shows Korea clearly has the economic and diplomatic potential to play a leading role in an APEC or East Asian community. Seoul should look carefully at the benefits of both these options.