Park to bolster Korea-US alliance

By Jane Han

NEW YORK ― South Korea’s first female president Park Geun-hye will meet a bolder, second-term U.S. President Barack Obama, so what’s next for the long-standing relationship between Seoul and Washington?

For the most part, Park and her staunchly conservative ruling Saenuri Party are expected to maintain the current relational dynamics with the U.S., further extending their alliance which has been solidified during the incumbent Lee Myung-bak administration.

Experts say the U.S. is also expected to seek a stable and continuing relationship with little change from the status quo.

``For the United States, perhaps the most significant result of Madame Park’s win is that it should help keep the two allies generally on the same page as they tackle a busy bilateral agenda,’’ Evans Revere, a renowned Asia expert, wrote in a commentary titled ``Park Geun-hye’s Electoral Victory: A sigh of Relief from Washington?’’ for the Brookings Institute, a Washington think tank.

``Instead of focusing on damage control and managing sharp differences, the two allies will now have an opportunity to build on the current strength of bilateral ties and take their partnership to an even higher level,’’ he said, adding that the ``solid level of trust’’ that has been built in recent years will help overcome differences that may arise.

Chad O’Carroll, director of communications for the Korea Economic Institute, a policy group based in Washington D.C., says Park’s administration is in a position to take a good first step with the U.S.

``Her administration will inherit five years of tacit experience in working with the current White House, a great starting point to be sure,’’ he said. ``However, there is always the risk that things could deteriorate from the status quo.’’

Various factors, including North Korea and Seoul’s ties with Beijing and Tokyo, may possibly play a pivotal role in influencing the Korea-U.S. alliance, experts say.

``A Park administration would try to strengthen relations with China while also maintaining a strong relationship with the United States,’’ projected Scott Snyder, senior fellow for Korean studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington.

He said one of Park’s tasks is to find the right balance between cooperating and establishing a constructive relationship with China without breaking away from the alliance relationship with the U.S.

Dealing with Pyongyang is also an area of concern, says Revere.

``Washington is unlikely to oppose South Korea’s renewed attempt to improve ties with Pyongyang,’’ he said. ``Nevertheless, such an effort will have to be carefully coordinated so that it does not undermine current efforts to punish the North for its violation of the United Nations Security Council resolutions and the steps the United States and others are taking to raise the cost to Pyongyang for its continued pursuit of missiles and nuclear weapons.’’

Besides these issues, other urgent items on the Korea-U.S. bilateral agenda include the implementation of the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement, renegotiating the bilateral nuclear cooperation agreement, and implementing standing agreements on consolidating U.S. military bases and the transfer of wartime operational control of South Korean forces from the U.S. to Korea, according to Revere.