U.S., South Korean leaders accentuate the positive today
SEOUL, South Korea – America’s relations with South Korea, a crucial Asian ally, are on an upswing as President Barack Obama meets with President Lee Myung-bak today, though a stalled trade agreement is still a concern for the economic powerhouses.
Obama, winding up his weeklong Asian journey, is expected to emphasize the two nations’ unified efforts to prod a defiant North Korea out of its nuclear weapons program. He’s also welcoming South Korea’s return to helping U.S. efforts in Afghanistan.
Obama landed Wednesday night in South Korea, embarking on perhaps the easiest leg of his whirlwind four-country Asian trip that has taken him away from Washington for the longest stretch of his presidency. He made brief stops in Tokyo and Singapore before a longervisit to China.
Strongly pro-U.S., Lee took office in South Korea in early 2008, a year before Obama, and relations between the two countries have been improving.
Not so much now. The South Korean president, for instance, was the first foreign leader in Obama’s presidency to get the honor of a joint appearance in the Rose Garden, in June.
A remaining sticking point has been trade. To South Korea’s dismay, a free trade agreement that was signed in 2007 by the two governments under previous leaders has been stalled ever since in Congress.
The pact was already going nowhere on Democratic-run Capitol Hill during the Bush administration, which struck the deal after painstaking negotiations. Obama’s election, with his concerns about U.S. access to the South Korean market for U.S. auto exports, put the deal in further doubt.
– By JENNIFER LOVEN, The Associated Press
