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President Lee Myung-bak and U.S. President George W. Bush agreed to elevate bilateral relations from a ¡°friendly relationship¡± to a ¡°21st-century strategic alliance.¡± President Bush said it means ¡°we work in ways to deal with 21st century problems,¡± citing examples such as preventing the proliferation of nuclear materials, expanding educational opportunities and free trade. The two countries will also face a variety of serious issues together such as terrorism, regional disputes, climate change, energy security, cross-border crime, epidemics and human rights, going beyond maintaining peace on the peninsula.
The Republic of Korea was created with the assistance of the United States and the international community. It would be apt to call it a miracle the international community has accomplished for the country to grow 60 years later into the world¡¯s 13th largest economy and agree with the U.S. to jointly tackle the problems of the 21st century. In the future, we must drastically expand our external assistance, which is the lowest among member nations of the OECD, while taking a more active stance in peacekeeping operations. We must contribute more to environmental issues such as the fight against global warming. This is both our way of repaying the international community and the inevitable strategic choice of a country that can find its direction only by expanding further out into the world.
There will be things we will gain and things we must bear. This agreement will serve as a strong message to the U.S. Congress to ratify the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on security improvements necessary for Korea to enter the U.S. visa waiver program. Korea will be able to upgrade its military sales status with the U.S. to the same level as NATO and Japan. The additional downsizing of U.S. troops in South Korea has been halted, while it will become easier for Seoul to have access to a wide variety of U.S. military technologies. But the U.S. will make a lot of demands, such as more troops to Iraq and Afghanistan and shouldering a larger share of the cost of U.S. Force Korea upkeep.
We are in a unique situation facing the borders of the big powers China, Japan and Russia. And we are in a standoff with North Korea just on the other side of the Demilitarized Zone, threatening to blow itself up with nuclear weapons. The upgrading of the South Korea-U.S. alliance can affect our relations with these countries. Issues such as our participation or increased role in America¡¯s global strategies such as the Proliferation Security Initiative, the missile defense program and the enhanced mobility of U.S. troops in South Korea will create ripples. We have to maintain friendly relations with our powerful regional neighbors.
President Lee and the first lady became the first-ever South Korean leader to be invited to Camp David, where they spent two days with the U.S. president and his wife. The U.S. leader agreed to visit Seoul in July. This is clear evidence that bilateral ties have improved to a level not seen during the past 10 years. For South Korea, which must prepare for unification with North Korea in 20 to 30 years, the only country that will support it until the end is the United States. From that standpoint, a strategic alliance is the path we must take in bilateral relations. But the government must clearly recognize that consideration of our abilities and circumstances and the consent of the Korean public are the pillars that will uphold the alliance.
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