열린장관실

Congratulatory Remarks

by H.E. Yoon Young-kwan

at the Korea-China-Japan Forum

(November 26, 2003, Westin Chosun Hotel)

Ambassador Lee In-ho, President of the Korea Foundation, Ambassador Lu Qiutian, President of the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Yamamoto Tadashi, President of the Japan Centre for International Exchanges, Distinguished Participants in the Korea-China-Japan Forum,

Ladies and gentlemen,

First of all, let me begin by expressing my deep gratitude for inviting me to this meaningful forum.  It is my great pleasure to see you all here tonight and make a few remarks on the trilateral cooperation among Korea, China and Japan.

The trilateral cooperation among Korea, China and Japan is becoming more and more important particularly due to the three neighboring countries' unique position in the world economy.  

As we are all aware, Japan is the second largest economic giant in the world.  China, with its 1.3 billion population and vast territory, has become a phenomenon with its remarkable growth in recent decades.  Korea has risen from the ashes of the Korean War to an economy with the 12th largest trade volume in the world.  

According to some economic analysis, the three countries account for around 20% of the global GDP and are projected to reach 30% by 2020.  

It is often mentioned that the three countries have consistently increased industrial complementarity and economic interdependence on one another in the process of these brilliant economic successes.

One of the outstanding features is that trade volume in 2002 reached 41 billion dollars between Korea and China, 45 billion dollars between Korea and Japan, and 102 billion dollars between China and Japan.   

Furthermore, this mutual interdependence is not only occurring in the economic area but also gradually prevailing in the area of security and environment.  The three countries are required to confront new challenges like "non-traditional security threat" including illegal immigration, piracy and narcotics trafficking.  They also need to tackle the environmental issues such as yellow sand and marine pollution.

Now we can surely say that the trilateral cooperation is getting indispensible not only for the security and economic growth of each country, but also for the lasting peace and prosperity of the region.  

In this regard, Korea has actively participated in strengthening the trilateral cooperation through bilateral and multilateral means.

First, our President paid a visit to Japan in June and to China in July this year.  He agreed with Prime Minster Koizumi to establish the "New Korea-Japan Partnership in the 21st Century" and with President Hu to set up "the Korea-China Comprehensive Cooperation Partnership".

I believe that these commitments between our top leaders have laid a solid ground for the further promotion of the trilateral cooperation in the future.  

Secondly, in response to the sweeping stream of globalization and regionalism, the three countries have piled up experiences of cooperation with one another through the multilateral framework of APEC, ASEM, and ASEAN+3. These experiences have prepared us for the take-off of the trilateral cooperation.

Among the multilateral cooperation, I would, especially, like to pay attention to the ASEAN+3 meetings where the seeds of mechanism for the trilateral cooperation were sown and sprouted.  In fact, the first and long overdue gathering of the leaders of the three countries was held on the occasion of ASEAN+3 summit meeting in 1999.

Over the past years we have witnessed the consistent and unswerving development of the mechanism among the three countries which has been upgraded into a formal meeting and equipped with follow-up arrangements such as the foreign ministers' meeting.   

This year will be a memorable one for the development process of the trilateral cooperation. At the trilateral summit meeting held in Bali last October, the three leaders proclaimed "the Joint Declaration on the Trilateral Cooperation among Korea, China and Japan", which will serve as a roadmap for our trilateral cooperation.

The Joint Declaration enumerates the detailed trilateral cooperations in various areas covering economy, security, culture, people-to-people exchange and cooperation with ASEAN countries.  Without any precedents, it has opened up a new chapter in the history of the regional cooperation in Northeast Asia.  

Personally, I take pride in participating in the diplomatic efforts made by the three governments to produce the successful achievement.  I would like to take this opportunity to express my firm determination to push ahead with the cooperation chartered in the Joint Declaration.   

In this sense, I think that it is meaningful and timely for the Korea Foundation to open the first trilateral forum tonight in the wake of the Bali trilateral summit meeting last October.  

As a professor, I had great interest in the promotion of  regional cooperation in Northeast Asia. To see the intellectuals and sages here representing each of our three countries, I can not help feeling a colleagueship.  

And I am sure that your wisdom and insights, experiences and ideas could flourish in this forum and present our three governments with a milestone on the road to strengthening the trilateral cooperation in a practical and effective manner, thus contributing to peace and common prosperity in this region.

Thank you.  [ End ]