ROK's president-elect seeks better ties

Park Geun-hye, incoming first female president of the Republic of Korea, lost no time on Thursday in paving the way for improved regional ties.

Following her hard-fought election victory over Moon Jae-in on Wednesday, Park met top envoys from regional powers.

Observers predicted that Northeast Asia’s first female president will strike a more balanced approach in Seoul’s diplomacy with major players in the Asia-Pacific region, including the United States, China, Russia and Japan, to reduce tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Park was in the media spotlight on Thursday, having a tight schedule that saw her visit the National Cemetery and deliver a policy speech at her conservative Saenuri Party’s headquarters in Seoul.

She vowed to place top priority on national security, as Pyongyang’s successful long-range rocket launch on Dec 12 underlined the “grave” security reality on the Korean Peninsula, Seoul’s Yonhap News Agency reported.

Park also said regional tensions stemming from sovereignty and long-standing disputes in Northeast Asia, along with global economic difficulties also weigh heavily on the ROK.

Despite her tight schedule, Park met US Ambassador Sung Kim, Chinese Ambassador Zhang Xinsen, Japanese Ambassador Koro Bessho and Russian Ambassador Konstantin Vnukov at her party’s headquarters, seeking to enhance respective bilateral ties.

Analysts said Park will partly follow hawkish demands in her party and seek balanced diplomacy with other Six-Party Talks participants following the UN Security Council’s call for sanctions over Pyongyang’s rocket launch.

Shi Yuanhua, director of the Center for Korean Studies at the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, said Park will continue seeking impartial policies based on the previous guidelines of the outgoing President Lee Myung-bak, a key member of Park’s party.

“While many said Park seems to be milder than Lee regarding the peninsula policy, I think the incoming leader’s policy toward Pyongyang will continue to be shaped and restrained by the conservative atmosphere within her party,” Shi said.

Park promised a “dual policy” of greater engagement and “robust deterrence”, and has not ruled out a summit with Pyongyang’s young leader, Kim Jong-un, who came to power a year ago, Reuters reported.

But Hong Hyun-ik, from the Sejong Institute think tank near Seoul, told AFP that given her basic stance towards Pyongyang and the rocket launch, Park is unlikely to be the initial mover in improving relations with the DPRK.

But she won’t object if the Obama administration moves to engage the DPRK in dialogue after the dust over the rocket launch has settled, Hong said.

As for Seoul’s future bilateral ties with key powers, Yonhap said Park may upgrade the ROK-US alliance, and the two countries urgently need to reconcile on a series of issues.

Obama has mapped out Washington’s policy plan for Asia-Pacific in an effort to rein in China, and Seoul is seen as more important among the core alliances involved in the new strategy, Yonhap said in a commentary.

Huang Youfu, a professor of Korean studies at Minzu University of China, said Park, along with her think tank, has made it clear during the election campaign that her new administration should not offend either China or the US.

Seoul is desperate for further defense support and military cooperation from the Pentagon, yet China has been the most prominent facilitator of the ROK’s economy as well as trade, Huang said.

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