한국국제교류재단

The seventh annual meeting of Korea-U.S. 21st Century Council was held at the Peter G. Peterson Conference Center in Washington, D.C. on April 8-9 this year. The annual meeting, which is sponsored by the Institute of International Economics and the Institute for Global Economics with the financial suffor of the Korea Foundation aims to build trust and strengthen mutual understanding on economic, political, and regional issues affecting South Korea and the United States, as well as other bilateral issues. The number of participants attending the meeting totaled 38, with 11 of these acting as observers. The participants consisted of government officials, journalists, politicians, scholars, and former diplomats from both South Korea and the United States. The observers came from the Korean embassy in the United States, the U.S. State Department, as well as various other think tanks and academic institutions.

The Peter G. Peterson Conference Center is an impressive building, and it is obvious that great care and thought went into its design layout. The center goes beyond simply serving functional purposes. As soon as people enter the building, they are immediately treated to a display of beautiful artworks, including a Joan Miro sculpture, which is quite large. The conference center also has a sculpture garden located right next to the conference room, allowing conference attendees to wind down and carry on their conversations in a more informal environment. The sculpture garden certainly served its purpose of creating an atmosphere conducive to building stronger personal rapport among guests at the center.

Active Discussion on Current Issues

Although the meeting lasted for only two days, it turned out to be a marathon event. Most discussions went beyond the scheduled time limit, and participants exchanged very active and candid views on a range of issues, from the South Korea-U.S. economic situation, bilateral economic policy issues, regional economic cooperation, to U.S. foreign policy, North Korea-South Korea issues, and regional security. Serious discussions took place over issues such as North Korea-South Korea relations, anti-American sentiment in South Korea, recent U.S. action on steel, and the increasing number of bilateral and trade arrangement proposals in East Asia and their implications for regionalism.
There was an active exchange of views as to why North Korea, after more than a year of stagnation in inter-Korean relations, decided to receive South Korea? President Kim Dae-jung's envoy at that particular point in time. Participants also raised questions as to what it was that the United States and North Korea could do to bring the two sides to the dialogue table.

South Korean participants explained Korea's plan to become a business hub in East Asia, pointing out the physical advantages that Korea offered in becoming a hub. These advantages included the location of Incheon airport and well-educated human resources. The South Korean and U.S. participants also mentioned some of the hurdles that Korea must overcome. The general sentiment was that Korea should pursue the idea with a long-term plan. On the part of the U.S. participants, most seemed to agree that, despite the rhetoric of the current administration, its policies were pragmatic both in the economic and foreign policy areas.

Need to Enhance the Partnership

On the second day of the meeting, participants had the opportunity to listen to a speech from Under Secretary of State for Economics, Business and Agricultural Affairs, Mr. Alan Larson. He posited that South Korea? achievements, such as democratization and economic development, were positioning the country to play a larger role in the international arena. He added that more could be done in the Korean economic sector for further internationalization. On a final note, he emphasized that it was important that South Korea and the U.S. remain strong partners.

The annual meeting play an important role in the partnership that Mr. Larson emphasized. It provides an invaluable opportunity for both South Korean and U.S. participants to air their concerns and differences in a candid manner and arrive at mutual understanding. The seventh meeting was successfully concluded in that the participants parted with a better understanding of each other? concerns and positions. After all, there can be no strong partnership unless it is built on a solid foundation of mutual understanding and friendship.

Dr. Hong So-Il is currently a visiting scholar at the Georgetown University, and attended the 7th Korea-United States 21st Century Council as an observer.