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The first team of president-elect Lee Myung-bak's special envoys left for Tokyo on Tuesday. The team is led by Grand National Party Rep. Lee Sang-deuk, vice speaker of the National Assembly and the president elect's elder brother. The entourage also includes GNP Rep. Kwon Chul-hyun, who has been mentioned as a candidate for the presidential chief of staff, and GNP Rep. Chun Yu-ok, to whom Lee expressed "special thanks" for her contribution to his victory in the GNP primary. It appears obvious that this team of special envoys to Japan will produce good results.
The president-elect on Monday met with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi, a special envoy from Beijing. In the meeting, Wang said that some media outlets have raised concerns that South Korea's relations with China could suffer after Lee's inauguration. Wang said he didn't believe the reports, but he wanted to hear what Lee thought about the matter. One of Lee's aides clarified that Wang was merely citing press reports, and not stating China's official position. But Wang's remarks were a de facto warning expressed in a diplomatic euphemism.
Exactly five years ago, on Jan. 13, 2003, former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori visited the GNP headquarters and then president-elect Roh Moo-hyun as a special envoy from the Japanese government. In a briefing after the meeting with Mori, the GNP quoted him as saying, "We're concerned that many supporters of president-elect Roh have anti-American sentiments. We're a little concerned about whether the president-elect values cooperation between Seoul, Washington and Tokyo." A Roh aide and the Japanese Embassy in Seoul protested, saying Mori's remarks were based on news reports and they didn't reflect the Japanese government's position.
But we all know what happened next. In a poll of 138 first-term lawmakers conducted right after the general election in 2004, 55 percent of the respondents said China was the most important foreign country in Korea's external affairs, outdistancing those who picked the U.S. (45 percent). South Korea-China relations improved afterwards, while South Korea's ties with the U.S. and Japan dipped to their lowest ebb.
President-elect Lee reportedly said he attaches great importance to South Korea's relations with China. But it is evident that these intentions have not been properly conveyed to China. The Lee administration must not ignore China's subtle warning passed through special envoy Wang Yi, if it does not wish to repeat the same mistakes the Roh government made in its relations with Washington and Tokyo over the past five years.
This column was contributed by Kwon Dae-yul, from the Chosun Ilbo's National News Desk.
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