383px-Geun_Hye_Park

Simona Botviciute,

Editor (Asia – Far East)

WASHINGTON – South Korean President Park Geun-Hye and US President Barack Obama participated in a joint press conference in White House on May 7th. Her visit marked the 60th anniversary of the US-South Korean alliance. Even though it is the first official foreign visit for Park Geun-Hye, the first female president of South Korea stood with confidence and stressed her aims to engage with North Korea diplomatically.

Obama’s statement included reassurance that the US will continue to coordinate with South Korea and Japan and are perfectly capable of defending themselves and their allies. He claimed that the United States and the Republic of Korea are more united than ever:

“We are on track for South Korea to assume operational control for the alliance in 2015 and we are determined to be fully prepared for any challenge or threat towards our security, and obviously that includes the threat from North Korea.”

The President of the United States has also addressed North Korea’s recent threats towards the South Korea, the US bases in Japan and Guam:

“If Pyongyang thought its recent threats would drive a wedge between South Korea and the United States, or somehow garner the North international respect, today is further evidence that North Korea has failed again.”

President Park continued making clear that South Korea will not tolerate any harm towards its citizens. However, the implementation of the Korean peninsula trust building process and enhancement of the global partnership was described as one of the most important aims of South Korea:

“I take this opportunity to once again send a clear message – North Korea will not be able to survive if it only clings to developing its nuclear weapons at the expense of their people’s happiness,” Park Geun-Hye stated, “And instead of just hoping to see North Korea change, the international community must also consistently send that message with one voice”.

Russia has recently expressed a serious concern on the issue, later followed by China, the main ally of North Korea, in support for both sides to stay calm. When asked about Park’s views on the role that Russia and China play in inducing North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons President of South Korea said:

“With regard to China and Russia’s stance, I believe that China and Russia, not to mention the international community of course, share the need to denuclearise the Korean peninsula and are cooperating closely to induce North Korea to take the right path.”

According to the US, North Korea has removed the missile threat which has eased the tensions, however South Korea is still tracking the area to ensure safety. Moreover, North Korea has replaced its defence chief Kim Kyok Sik with a little-known army general Jang Jong Nam, putting even more confusion in predicting what Kim Jong-Un is planning to do next. Over the past month the key players such as South Korea, the US and Japan were trying to communicate the message that they are not going to reward provocative behaviour but will remain opened for North Korea taking a peaceful path.

Image Courtesy: Daffy123 (Wiki Commons) Released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license

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Simona Botviciute

Simona Botviciute

Simona is the Editor of Asia – Far East section of The Global Panorama. She is continuously studying in School of Journalism, Media & Cultural Studies at Cardiff University. She enjoys both news writing and editorial type of work regarding any cultural or political aspect of Asian countries. Being a passionate music lover she is also a contributor to the Music section of the website.