Speeches and Transcripts

   Welcoming Remarks
  Seoul Foreign Correspondents Club
   April 28, 2008

Kamsa hamnida.  Anyong hashimnikka. Thanks very much for inviting me here today.   I am very grateful to Lim Yun Suk, the President of the SFCC, for extending the kind invitation to have a dialogue with you on the future of Korea - U.S. relations after the recent Camp David summit meeting.

I was in the States for President Lee’s visit and I had the honor of attending the summit at Camp David and, as President Bush said, it was a “great visit.”  President Lee Myung-bak impressed not only President Bush but many others in New York and Washington with his strong belief in the importance of close U.S. – Korean ties and his views on the potential for further strengthening the alliance between our two countries. 

As you know, it’s unusual for the President to invite foreign leaders to Camp David, especially leaders he’s meeting for the first time.  In fact, this was the first visit to Camp David by a Korean president ever.   Clearly, President Bush wanted to send the message about how highly we value our partnership with Korea and that we have high expectations for revitalizing the relationship with President Lee.  We were also honored that President Lee chose to come to Washington for his first overseas visit as the new Korean president.

As the meetings between the two Presidents were in private, I’m not going to be able to tell you a lot in detail about what they discussed.  But having been there at the meeting on Saturday morning and for the closing lunch,  I can confirm that the two leaders discovered that they share core beliefs about democracy, free markets and human rights and that they see tremendous potential for upgrading our relationship into what we are now calling a “21st Century Strategic Alliance.”

The fact that the visit came so early in President Lee’s tenure means that it was more about establishing a new tone in the relationship than about producing a lot of new policy agreements or statements.  Nevertheless, there were several important outcomes -- on reopening the beef market, on maintaining U.S. force levels in Korea, and on the Visa Waiver Program.  We’ll both be working to fill in additional details and to develop additional “deliverables” in the run-up to the second Summit that will take place in Korea this summer, probably right after the G8 summit.

During the course of the two-day visit to Camp David, the full range of subjects concerning our bilateral relations was covered.  I’m sure you are already familiar with most of these subjects.  For example, the two Presidents discussed the transformation of our defense relationship; our extensive commercial ties and the potential of the KORUS FTA to raise them to a new level; the Six Party Talks and the wider challenge posed by North Korea; and relations with Japan and China and future security cooperation in Northeast Asia.  In addition, they talked about working together on global challenges like climate change and strengthening the personal ties between Koreans and Americans through Korea’s entry in the Visa Waiver Program and through expanded cultural and educational exchanges.

So, as you can see, the two Presidents had a very broad discussion touching on all aspects of the bilateral relationship.  And the outcome was very positive for both countries. 

I guess after lunch there’ll be time for us to talk about these matters in more detail.  So, I guess now I’ll ask everyone to enjoy their meal and I’ll fortify myself for the questions that will follow after we have our lunch.