U.S. - South Korea (ROK)

President Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak in London April 2.

President Obama Vows Strengthened U.S.-South Korea Ties

By David McKeeby
Staff Writer
April 2, 2009

Washington — President Obama vows to further strengthen the U.S.-South Korea alliance, praising Seoul’s efforts to address the global financial crisis and its contributions to international peace and security.   

Hailing South Korea as “one of America’s closest allies and greatest friends,” Obama sat down with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak April 2 on the sidelines of the G20 summit in London. Both leaders are among the heads of state from nations accounting for 90 percent of the world economy who are working to formulate a common set of measures to manage the global financial crisis.

Obama and Lee agreed to work closely on strong measures to stimulate their economies and to build international consensus on reform of the international regulatory and supervisory system, as well as the need for nations to avoid protectionism, said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs in a statement issued after the meeting.

The two presidents also agreed the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement could bring benefits to both countries and expressed commitments to move forward on the agreement, one of several issues likely to top the agenda when Lee visits the White House June 16.

On neighboring North Korea, Gibbs said, Obama underlined to Lee America’s continuing and steadfast commitment to the verifiable elimination of North Korea’s nuclear weapons under the Six-Party Talks — an international diplomatic effort led by China that also includes Japan and Russia.

Obama and Lee’s meeting comes as North Korea continues preparations at its Musudan-ri missile base to launch what it claims to be a communications satellite, but that top U.S. officials have warned is a cover for testing North Korea’s Taepodong-2 line of long-range ballistic missiles. 

Any North Korean launch would violate U.N. Security Council Resolution 1718, which imposed a series of international sanctions on the regime following its 2006 nuclear test, say U.S. officials.

“North Korea will not be able to drive a wedge between the U.S. and South Korea,” said White House officials speaking on background after the meeting. The officials said they expect North Korea’s launch to go forward, despite widespread international pressure from all of its Six-Party partners to reconsider.

U.S., South Korean and Japanese military officials are closely monitoring the situation, the officials said, adding that Lee and Obama agreed on the need for a unified international response at the U.N. Security Council should the launch take place. (See “U.S. Navy to Monitor Planned North Korean Rocket Launch.”)

Media sources report North Korean technicians have started fueling the rocket, meaning the launch appears to be on schedule for some point between April 4 and April 8.

“We have made it very clear that the North Koreans pursue this pathway at a cost, and with consequences to the Six-Party Talks, which we would like to see revived and moving forward as quickly as possible," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said March 25.

Obama expressed appreciation for Seoul’s support of his administration’s recently completed comprehensive review of international efforts to stabilize Afghanistan and the Pakistan border region. 

South Korea has provided medical assistance and vocational training to Afghan communities struggling to emerge from decades of poverty and war. While the bulk of its 210-strong contribution to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force withdrew in December 2007, South Korean military and civilian personnel continue to operate a small hospital north of the Afghan capital, Kabul. 

Officials from Seoul played an active role in the March 31 U.N. Conference on Afghanistan in The Hague, Netherlands, and are expected to attend a similar event for Pakistan hosted by Japan April 17. 

“They’re looking to doing more, which we appreciate,” White House officials said.