Keynote Speech
by H.E. Cho Tae-yul
Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs
at the Eurasian Policy Forum
jointly organized
by Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and Maekyung Media Group
 
September 12, 2013
Millennium Seoul Hilton Hotel
 

President Park Chul, Chairman Chang Dae Hwan, Chairman Ahn Hong Joon, Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am greatly honored to speak on the Eurasian policy of the Park Geun-hye Government before such a distinguished audience as is present here today. I would like to thank Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and Maekyung Media Group for jointly organizing this timely and meaningful conference.

(Eurasian Policy of Park Geun-hye Government)

“I dream of a railway running from Busan to Europe via Russia.” This is what President Park Geun-hye said at the summit meeting with President Putin in St. Petersburg last week. At first, it may sound like President Park was expressing her strong desire to connect the Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR) and the Trans-Korean Railway (TKR). But I believe that with these words, she was trying to capture her larger vision of Korea’s policy towards Eurasia.

President Park’s Eurasian policy is a grand plan to connect the two economies in the North and the South with the Korean Peninsula in between by integrating and expanding Eurasia’s intricate web of energy, transportation and logistics. It could be attained by strengthened cooperation with Russia, trilateral cooperation with North Korea and Russia, and closer relations with other countries in Eurasia strategically located in the region. The two summit meetings President Park held in St. Petersburg, one with President Putin and another with President Nazarbayev, on the occasion of the G20 summit were basically aimed at advancing bilateral relations with Russia and Kazakhstan respectively, but in fact were a manifestation of her commitment to jumpstart the policy on Eurasian cooperation.

I would like to share with you today some of my thoughts on how important Korea’s relations with Russia and other Eurasian countries are in a broader context of President Park’s policy on Eurasian cooperation and what the Korean government is going to do to translate this Eurasian vision into reality.

(Korea-Russia Partnership in Eurasian Context)

A century ago, Korea and Russia clearly recognized each other as important partners. It was with this trust that in 1896 when the fate of Joseon dynasty was hanging by a thread, King Gojong dispatched special envoy Min Yeong-hwan to Czar Nicholas II to solicit Russian assistance. However, the political development in Northeast Asia in the aftermath of the Russo-Japanese War leading up to the Korean War, which was then followed by the Cold War, prevented the two countries from reigniting their friendship. 

Nearly a century had passed before the two countries were able to reestablish formal ties in 1991. Since then, the Korea-Russia relations have grown by leaps and bounds; bilateral trade increased 110 times, while people-to-people exchange reached 130,000 per year. However, it appears that two decades was not enough for the two countries to fully dismantle the wall of separation and become genuine partners. A divided Korea – a lasting legacy of the Cold War – might have been an obstacle in advancing the Korea-Russia relations to a higher level. Although the two countries agreed to upgrade the bilateral relations to a strategic partnership in 2008, a frank assessment would be that a strategic partnership yet remains a rhetoric and more work needs to be done to live up to this promised partnership.

However, since new governments were inaugurated in both countries, a new momentum has been created to move our bilateral relationship forward. Last year, the Putin Government, as part of its ‘Look East Policy’, announced its ambitious development plan for Siberia and the Russian Far East. The Park Geun-hye Government, for its part, introduced a policy on Eurasian cooperation as one of its major policy agenda. Only when these visions and policies of the two leaders are translated into concrete cooperation projects, will the bilateral relations evolve into a genuine strategic partnership.

The bilateral summit of September 7th between the two leaders was quite successful in this regard. President Park made it clear that she is firmly committed to upgrading the bilateral relations to a new height based on the Trustpolitik, emphasizing the need to make promises that can be kept and keep promises that have been made. President Putin wholeheartedly agreed with President Park. As such, the two leaders had very frank discussions and built personal trust. They agreed to meet again later this year to hold in-depth discussions on the vision of the Korea-Russia partnership for the next two decades and beyond. Indeed, the forthcoming summit will be a turning point in moving the partnership forward.

In order to overcome the sense of frustration and misunderstanding that have been deepened over the years due to a lack of meaningful progress in cooperative projects, priority should be placed on enhancing the level of trust between the two countries. At the initial stage, efforts should be made to accumulate experiences in cooperation by implementing pilot projects. The Najin-Hasan project and the Russian Far East development projects are cases in point. If trust is enhanced through such projects and progress is also made in inter-Korean relations, we will be able to pursue large-scale projects in the area of infrastructure such as railway, gas and electrical power networks.

In fact, the transformation of the Korea-Russia economic cooperation in both qualitative and quantitative terms largely depends on the progress in the inter-Korean relations. Therefore, Russia’s role in inducing change in North Korea is essential in promoting economic cooperation between Korea and Russia. In particular, the trilateral cooperation among Russia and the two Koreas, the project of our primary concern, could not make any meaningful progress if North Korea continues to be subject to international sanctions due to its nuclear and missile programs.

No doubt, Russia is a key partner for Korea in pursuing President Park’s Trust-Building Process on the Korean Peninsula. The Trust-Building Process, which is aimed at inducing North Korea to make right choices, is a policy to make peace by employing strong pressure and persuasion, while safeguarding peace based on robust deterrence. It is an alignment policy that tries to strike a balance between dialogue and deterrence and between inter-Korean relations and joint initiatives with the international community. It is also an evolving policy as it pursues a step-by-step, gradual implementation. Therefore, the outcome can vary depending on North Korea’s attitude and changes in the inter-Korean relationship.

Russia’s cooperation is also essential in pursuing President Park’s Initiative for Peace and Cooperation in Northeast Asia, another major pillar of the Trustpolitik. In Northeast Asia, there exists a mismatch between economic and political evolution. While economic interdependence among the countries in the region is growing year by year, political and security cooperation remains very weak. Moreover, frictions over historical and territorial issues are on the rise. This phenomenon, which we call the Asia Paradox, is essentially attributed to the lack of trust among the countries in the region. The Northeast Asia Peace and Cooperation Initiative is an initiative to build the infrastructure of trust in the region by accumulating practices and habits of cooperation and dialogue in order to overcome this paradox.

When habits of multilateral dialogue and cooperation set in on soft issues such as nuclear safety, disaster relief and combating climate change, it will gradually lead to further dialogue on regional security. In particular, nuclear safety is an area where a tangible progress could be made without much difficulty given that regional cooperation in this area is not only feasible but also timely and relevant. In addition, if a progress is made in trilateral cooperation among the two Koreas and Russia in the areas of railway, energy, electrical power and logistics, it will naturally induce other countries in the region to be engaged, which in turn will add an impetus for actively pursuing the Initiative for Northeast Asia Peace and Cooperation.

On the other hand, the Korean Peninsula Trust-Building Process and the Northeast Asia Peace and Cooperation Initiative will lead and complement each other in a mutually reinforcing way. The growing trust between the two Koreas will greatly contribute to peace and cooperation in Northeast Asia and peace and cooperation in Northeast Asia will prompt other countries in the region to take part in the trust-building process on the Korean Peninsula. On top of this, when the countries in Northeast Asia share the vision for regional peace and security, it will have a positive impact on the denuclearization process in the Korean Peninsula as well.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

According to a 2011 OECD report, Russia’s great strength lies in its abundant natural and human resources, geographical proximity to the markets of developed and emerging economies, state-of-the-art science and technology, research infrastructure, and the introduction of global standards upon its accession to the WTO. There are numerous potential areas of cooperation between Korea and Russia ranging from agriculture, fisheries, marine transportation, shipbuilding, science and defense technology, aerospace, to the development of the Arctic. As Russia is seeking to develop harbors not only in the Far East but also in the coastal areas of the Arctic Ocean, ample opportunities exist for cooperation in the area of shipbuilding such as LNG carriers and icebreakers.

The Arctic development is also an area of great potential for bilateral cooperation. As you may know, last May, Korea became a permanent observer of the Arctic Council thanks to the support of the member countries including Russia. The Arctic Ocean, which is often dubbed the new Silk Road of the 21st century, will soon rise as a new frontier in our bilateral cooperation.

In order to make an in-depth assessment of the feasibility, viability, and priorities of all these potential projects of cooperation with Russia, the Korean government will soon set up a special task force in which all the relevant government agencies will participate. The task force will develop short and long-term plans for cooperation and also work on the draft joint statement on the vision for the Korea-Russia partnership that will be announced at the next summit.

(Other Eurasian Countries and Vision for Partnership)

Distinguished Guests,

Cooperation with other Eurasian countries including those in Central Asia is another major pillar of Korea’s Eurasian policy. Korea and these countries share the long history of exchanges through the ancient Silk Road and the peoples on both sides are bound by historical, cultural and ethnic links. But, it was only after the end of the Cold War that they began to recognize each other once again as friends and partners.

Since then, however, development in our relations has been remarkable. Trade volume reached 28.3 billion dollars, 129-fold increase compared to 20 years ago, and Korea’s investment in this region increased by 79 times in the same period. In particular, Korean drama and K-pop are very popular in the region, while many Korean students are taking up studies on the Eurasian countries. It seems to me that the Silk Road, which used to be the main artery of the past civilization, is reemerging on the horizon.

Indeed, the relations between Korea and other Eurasian countries are entering into a new era of cooperation. Thanks to historical solidarity and Korea’s charm as a development model, the two sides have been steadily reinforcing cooperation across-the-board.

Being located in the middle of the Silk Road, Eurasia played an important role in the past in promoting exchanges between the east and the west. The region still carries value as a logistical hub that connects big markets such as Russia, India and China. Also, due to its vast land and abundant natural resources and labor force, it is highly likely that the region may one day become a global factory. 

However, the majority of these Eurasian countries embarked on a road to industrial modernization only after the disintegration of the Soviet Union. As latecomers, they carry a heavy burden of escaping a resource dependent economy, while pursuing industrial diversification. These landlocked countries also face greater constraints in trading with other countries.

Korea, for its part, has achieved industrialization in a relatively short period of time and as a result has been successfully integrated into the global value chain. This has been possible because of the political leadership’s strong commitment to national development, a large pool of elite technocrats, and, above all, people equipped with the ‘can-do’ spirit. Economic development served as a solid basis for achieving political democratization, and Korea has now become one of the most dynamic and vibrant democracies in East Asia.

Korea is ready to share its development experiences with other Eurasian countries. We are also committed to working together with these countries to build a mutually beneficial partnership by working on specific needs for cooperation not only in the areas of energy and natural resources, but also in the areas such as IT, medical services, environment, agriculture and industrial technology.

In fact, given the strategic importance of Central Asia, Korea has been holding the Korea-Central Asia Cooperation Forum at the vice-ministerial level since 2007 to discuss ways to enhance cooperation in areas such as forestry, railway, petroleum, textile and agriculture. At the seventh Forum that will be held in Kyrgyzstan this October, we expect that a roadmap will be worked out on Korea-Central Asia cooperation. We also plan to upgrade the Forum to ministerial level and expand the scope of dialogue and cooperation by setting up a Korea-Central Asia Cooperation Center in the future.

Korea has also been continuously promoting cooperation with individual countries in the region. For instance, Korea launched a strategic partnership with Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in 2005 and 2009, respectively. Last week, President Park held the first summit with Kazakhstan President Nazarbayev on the sidelines of the G20 summit and agreed to deepen this strategic partnership by pursuing, among others, three big joint projects. With Uzbekistan, based on the existing friendly relations that were forged over the years through an active exchange of high-level officials, Korea plans to further expand the current scope of economic cooperation. We also plan to strengthen bilateral relations with Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Belarus, where we recently opened up embassies. As for Ukraine, Korea wishes to expand cooperation in new areas based on our existing cooperation in the area of space technology, which is best exemplified by the launching of Arirang-5 satellite. With Azerbaijan, we are currently pursuing projects in construction, fertilizer and transportation. Based on the outcome of these projects, we will further expand the scope of our bilateral cooperation.

These Eurasian countries are under the limelight not only for their geostrategic importance but also as the source of the next generation energy. As the region reaches its growth potential, its global influence will most likely grow in parallel. We hope that working together, Korea could contribute to realizing the potential of these countries, and thus promote greater trust and cooperation between the two sides.

(Closing)

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dostoyevksy, one of Russia’s greatest writers, once said, “The greatest happiness is knowing the reasons behind unhappiness.” In the 20th century, Korea suffered the loss of its sovereignty and experienced the pains of national division, war and poverty. We were able to escape from poverty and enjoy full freedom by working hard over the past half a century on the root causes behind such tragedies. And now Korea stands as a country which has successfully achieved both industrialization and democratization.

However, peace on the Korean peninsula is still fragile; there are no signs of chance to end the division of the country. The Trustpolitik of the Park Geun-hye Government is an expression of a commitment to completing our unfinished mission and usher in an era where not only the people on both sides on the Korean Peninsula but also all citizens in Northeast Asia and beyond enjoy freedom, peace and happiness.

Korea’s Eurasian policy is also based on the Trustpolitik. More precisely, it is a trust-based approach to build a peace and common prosperity in Eurasia by working together with Russia and other countries in the region. Today, no ideological barriers separate Korea from these countries. There is only the commitment to work together to translate the limitless potential into reality. When this commitment is reinforced with trust, President Park’s dream of connecting railways from Busan to Europe via Russia and other countries in Eurasia will come true sooner than later. Thank you. //END//