South Korea and China marked the 15th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries Friday. Since establishing bilateral relations in 1992, the two nations have taken great strides in trade, investment, tourism, culture, education and human exchanges. Seoul and Beijing have developed a closer partnership based on economic interdependence, cultural similarities and geological closeness.
In the early stages of development, China needed technologies, commercialization know-how and investment from South Korean companies in a bid to set up a socialist market economy that would bring economic prosperity to its people. Korean businesses have also actively made inroads into the neighboring country to exploit cheap labor and explore the colossal market for their products.
The two countries have rapidly stepped up economic cooperation with bilateral trade and human exchanges. Two-way trade was estimated at $134.3 billion last year, a 27-fold increase from $5 billion in 1992. The sum is almost twice as much as the trade between South Korea and the United States. Korea-China trade is expected to grow to $150 billion this year and to surpass the $200 billion mark in 2012.
China has become South Korea's largest trading partner since 2004, edging out the U.S. and Japan. The country is the largest destination for Korean products, while South Korea is the fourth largest export market for Chinese goods. About 4.8 million people visited each other's country last year, compared with 130,000 in the first year of diplomatic normalization. The number is likely to surge to 10 million in 2010.
When it comes to cultural exchange, an estimated 100 million Chinese watch Korean soap operas and other entertainment programs every day, driven by an overseas boom for Korean pop culture. Korean residents in China have already surpassed one million. And 57,000 Korean students are studying in China, accounting for one third of all foreign students in the country. All the developments were made possible after the two countries ended four decades of antagonism following the division of the Korean Peninsula into the communist North and the capitalist South.
We hope Seoul and Beijing will deepen their friendship, cooperation and exchanges based on mutual trust, understanding and respect. No one can imagine that the two nations will turn the clock back to Cold War confrontation. No doubt closer ties between the countries will boost the prospects for co-existence and co-prosperity.
However, we cannot remain too optimistic about the bilateral relationship since there are some obstacles that have yet to be overcome. It is important for South Korea to make efforts to maintain complementary economic ties with China because the latter is rapidly catching up with the former in terms of technology, quality of goods and marketing skills. Korean firms face mounting challenges as Beijing has shifted its focus to a more balanced and environment-friendly development from its previous policy which centered primarily on boosting exports and attracting foreign investment.
We still have a long way to go in the field of political, diplomatic and security cooperation. Seoul and Beijing have been closely collaborating with other neighboring countries in finding ways to make North Korea completely dismantle its nuclear weapons programs. The two sides ought to join hands to ensure Pyongyang's denuclearization and settle a permanent peace on the peninsula.
There are some worries about China's military buildup and large-scale war games with Russia and Central Asian countries. South Koreans are also uneasy about China's history research project, called the Northeast Project, in which historians claimed the ancient Korean kingdom of Goguryeo was part of China. The two countries should make concerted efforts to narrow their differences in developing better ties.