President makes historic visit to Myanmar

NAY PYI TAWㅡ U Thein Sein(R), President of Myanmar, shakes hands with his South Korean counterpart Lee Myung-bak in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, May 14, 2012. Lee, who is on a two-day goodwill visit to Myanmar, is the first South Korean president to visit the country in nearly 30 years. (Xinhua)

The leaders of South Korea and Myanmar agreed to strengthen bilateral ties Monday, amid signs that the Southeast Asian country seeks democratic and economic reform.

During a summit with President Thein Sein, President Lee Myung-bak noted positive progress made in bilateral relations over the past months and that a new era between the two nations was unfolding.

Lee and Sein agreed to expand cooperation in energy, resources and trade with Seoul sharing its experience and expertise in achieving economic growth with the long-isolated country.

President Lee arrived in Naypyidaw, the capital of Myanmar, for the summit with his counterpart after winding up a trip to Beijing for trilateral talks with China and Japan.

Lee is the first South Korean leader to visit the southeastern country since a bombing in Rangoon took the lives of 17 South Korean officials, including several Cabinet ministers on Oct. 9, 1983.

The Lee-Sein talks were held after South Korea and Myanmar agreed to establish high-level policy consultation on a regular basis in January.

Prior to this, South Korea also resumed a loans program last August that was suspended in 2005 after the previous government of Myanmar repressed the human rights of its people.

Previously, Myanmar has also come under fire for weapons proliferation and reportedly making illicit arms deals with North Korea.

Last December, the new Myanmar leader vowed to sever military ties with the North during a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

President Lee was expected to press for this during the summit with President Sein.

Some observers didn’t rule out the possibility of Lee holding talks with democratic campaigner Aung San Suu kyi, who gained a seat in last month’s parliamentary by-election, before returning to Seoul.

Nearly 100 South Korean firms operate in the resources-rich nation. Bilateral trade hit nearly $600 million in 2011. The trade volume is a lot smaller than that of Indonesia or Vietnam, but industry experts are optimistic that it will surge in the near future as the country has a great deal of potential.

Since April last year, Sein has released hundreds of political prisoners, signed cease-fires with ethnic groups, and sought economic reforms to boost the long-isolated economy.

These efforts have led the international community, including South Korea and the United States, to respond to the new government there.

In January, Clinton said the United States was ready to start the process of exchanging ambassadors with Myanmar.

Hopes were high that international sanctions imposed on Myanmar would be eased as Sein unveiled a set of democratic measures.

A flurry of high-level visits, including that of U.S. Secretary of State Clinton, followed since last year.

Some South Koreans have tragic associations with the southeast Asian country.

In 1983, a group of North Korean terrorists plotted to assassinate then South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan who visited the country when it was called Burma.

Chun remained unhurt because he left his hotel three minutes later than scheduled, however, 17 South Korean officials were killed and 14 wounded.

After conducting an investigation, the Burmese government concluded that North Korean terrorists conducted the bombing. It cut diplomatic ties with the Stalinist state afterwards. Some 68 nations, including the United States, released statements condemning North Korea for the terrorist attack. Myanmar and North Korea resumed diplomatic relations in April 2007. <Korea Times/Kang Hyun-kyung>

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