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China and S. Korea share dreams of better future and new FTA
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China and S. Korea share dreams of better future and new FTA
THE past two decades have witnessed the dramatic expansion of China’s relationship with South Korea.
Although the two nations didn’t establish their diplomatic ties until 1992, in twenty years’ time their bilateral trade has surged from a mere US$6.4 billion in 1992 to US$250 billion last year.
This is a sign of growing levels of interdependence, Park Kwan-yong, ex-speaker of South Korea’s National Assembly, said at a forum in Shanghai on Thursday (September 26).
The forum, held by the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences and the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai, was attended by politicians, academics and businessmen from both sides. It was titled “China-South Korea-relationship in the next 10 years.”
China has now surpassed Japan and the United States as South Korea’s largest trading partner, and the recent signing of a free trade agreement between them will produce more win-win results, said Park, the ex-speaker.
According to ongoing negotiations over technical issues concerning the agreement, the two countries have reached a consensus to waive tariffs on 90 percent of their goods for as long as 20 years.
The implementation of the FTA will not just boost Sino-South Korean economic ties and their respective economies, but will also be an example to Japan, which may be tempted to join and foster the integration of East Asian economies, said Li Wuwei, ex-vice chairman of China’s supreme political advisory body.
Today, with 7 million visits made every year by South Koreans and Chinese to each other’s country, the scale and scope of Sino-South Korean relations are unprecedented, Li added.
Burgeoning ties
Apart from both economies, culture and individual exchanges also benefit from the burgeoning ties.
China and South Korea have both sent more than 60,000 students to each other to study. Without enough mutual trust, this two-way flow of young generations could not have been possible, said Park.
The closer bond has now come to include endorsement for both sides’ ideal of a better future.
Veteran South Korean diplomat Shim Yoon-joe cited South Korean president Park Geun-hye, who said in her speech at Tsinghua University in June that just as South Korean rivers and Chinese rivers empty into the same sea, there is a confluence of the “China Dream” and “Korea Dream.”
The “Korea Dream” can mean peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula, and China’s help in ensuring de-nuclearization of the peninsula is vital to realize this “dream,” Shim said.
While the relationship is one of the fastest growing relationships in the world, there are issues to be handled with care to make sure it stays on track.
Despite their similarities, such as the strong influence of Confucian philosophy, their political systems are different, and both nations should learn to respect and understand that difference, said ex-speaker Park.
To build better ties in the next 10 years, “we two nations ought to move beyond the stage where we seek common interests and retain differences, and take the relationship to a higher level by broadening consensus in areas where we agree to disagree, so as to eliminate differences,” Park added.
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