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Korea's new President, Lee Myung-bak, was sworn in on 25 February, having convincingly won the Presidential election held on 19 December 2007. The New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rt Hon Winston Peters, attended the inauguration ceremony to register New Zealand's support and interest in working closely with the new administration. Other foreign VIPs at the inauguration ceremony included Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, Australian Speaker Harry Jenkins and Canadian Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier.
Rep Lim Chae-jung, Speaker of the National Assembly, visited New Zealand in January 2008 to attend the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF). Speaker Lim was accompanied by Rep Hong Chang-sun (UNDP), Rep Chung Bong-ju (UNDP), Rep Kim Song-ja (DP) and Rep Kim Young-sook (GNP). In addition to attending the APPF, Speaker Lim had a meeting with New Zealand's Speaker of the House, Hon Margaret Wilson.
In March a New Zealand delegation comprising Wynn Ingram and Lesley McConnell (MORST), David Johns and Joe Asghar (FORST), Marian Savill (Institute of Environmental Science and Research), Phil Shepherd (Medialab), Keith Gordon (Otago University), Ashton Partridge (McDiarmid Centre), and John Harvey (Auckland University) visited Korea. In the course of their visit most of the group visited a number of partner agencies in Daejon, and all attended the Second Science and Technology Forum with Korean government officials.
Management of science and technology in Korea has recently undergone some restructuring as part of the new Government’s plans to reorganise the public sector. The Forum was very successful however, particularly in terms of scientist to scientist collaboration. Strong personal and professional relationships have already developed and there is scope for more. Science and technology research and development are, and will continue to be, significant cogs in the bilateral relationship, with some ventures already being turned into commercial opportunities.
New Zealand Climate Change Ambassador Adrian Macey visited Seoul on 24 March. Ambassador Macey's visit enabled exchanges with key officials on this issue, which is a priority for New Zealand. There is a growing awareness in Korea that it, too, will have to grapple with the challenge, illustrated by the President's stated desire in his Inauguration speech to “actively take part in reducing carbon emissions”. It will not be easy, however, given Korea’s current economic growth strategies which focus on securing a greater share of the world’s energy resources to support the Korean manufacturing sector.
Annual Korea-New Zealand Military to Military Talks were held on 17-18 March 2008 in Seoul. The New Zealand delegation was led by Head International Defence Relations (Mr Paul Sinclair) and included Assistant Chief of Defence for Strategic Commitments and Intelligence (Air Commodore Peter Stockwell). The talks were highly successful, reflecting the maturity of the bi-lateral relationship. Side visits to examine the Korean Peninsula strategic situation included Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security (IFANS), Korea National Defence University (KNDU), and a working lunch with academics on North Korea issues hosted by the New Zealand Ambassador. Air Commodore Stockwell also called on his counterpart in Korean Ministry of National Defence - Director Korea Defence Intelligence Agency (LTG Kim Eun-gi).
The second New Zealand Wine Fair organised by NZTE Seoul was successfully held at the Seoul Plaza Hotel on 10 March, attracting over 400 people mainly from the food and beverage industry and media. Some 33 New Zealand wineries showcased 125 premium red and white wines to potential Korean clients this year following the inaugural event of 2007. KBS TV, a national broadcaster, DongAh Cable TV and several other media interviewed a number of the wineries at the fair. Meat and Wool NZ also supported and sponsored the event by providing New Zealand beef and lamb to visitors on the day. New Zealand exported US$963,000 worth of wine to Korea in 2007, recording a 120% increase from 2006, and some 22 Korean companies import wine from 39 New Zealand wineries at present.
New Zealand Film Director Taika Waititi visited Seoul from 9-16 March at the invitation of the Film School of JoongAng University. Taika Waititi’s short film Two Cars, One Night was nominated for an Academy Award in 2005 and his first feature film Eagle vs. Shark was released in 2005. The Director ran five film seminars at the Korean university. New Zealand Ambassador Jane Coombs hosted a film networking evening for the director on 14 March and some 20 key Korean film contacts including Acting Chair of Korean Film Council Lee Hyeon-seung attended the reception along with media representatives. Taika Waititi’s two short films Two Cars, One Night and Tama Tu were played and well-received by the guests. The director had interviews with major dailies and film and culture magazines during his stay in Seoul.
Over 12,000 tons of crude oil leaked into the West Sea off Taean, a county on Korea's central west coast, in early December when a Samsung barge that became separated from its tugboats struck the oil tanker Hebei Spirit in bad weather. The massive spill destroyed fish farms and natural parks in the ecologically pristine region, devastating the livelihoods of local residents in the fisheries and tourism sectors. More than 1.4 million volunteers have gone to the beaches of the Taean region to help clean up the country’s worst oil spill. Some New Zealand Embassy staff members, including the Ambassador, with other groups went down to the region and participated in the clean-up on 25 January on a tour organised by the UNDP/GEF Korea Wetland Project team.
President Lee Myung-bak took office on 25 February, ending a decade of liberal rule. As the first Korean President with a business background, President Lee is focused on economic development through deregulation and competition. As a first step, President Lee has streamlined the public sector to pursue an efficient and pragmatic government. President Lee is also focused on the reform of the public education sector, particularly English teaching. Internationally, President Lee has emphasised closer ties with traditional allies such as the US and Japan, while taking a tougher stance towards North Korea, based on the principle of reciprocity. President Lee is scheduled to visit the US and Japan in mid-April. “Energy diplomacy” is another prioritised foreign policy area. President Lee is placing emphases on efforts to expand cooperation with countries rich in natural resources. In line with this, the Government plans to establish new embassies in Africa and Central Asia.
President Lee Myung-bak’s first Cabinet line-up consists of 15 ministries – 3 fewer than the previous Cabinet. President Lee has instigated government downsizing in an attempt to make the public sector more efficient and competitive. A number of agencies have been merged and some disestablished, in line with the streamlined Cabinet. The Cabinet line-up reflects President Lee’s focus on economic development particularly given the fact that several economic specialists are appointed to Ministerial positions, even to ministries that do not specifically deal with the economy.
The new Cabinet is as follows:
There were major changes in Korea’s political party line-up early this year. This has been occasioned by fallout from the December Presidential election and preparation for the April 9 Parliamentary elections. With the inauguration of President Lee Myung-bak in February, the conservative Grand National Party (GNP) has become the governing party while the United New Democratic Party (UNDP) and the Democratic Party (DP) merged in early February to become the major opposition party, the liberal United Democratic Party (UDP). The UDP is led by former Gyeonggi Governor Sohn Hak-kyu who defected from GNP last March to join the liberal force, and Leader of DP Park Sang-cheon. top of page
Meanwhile, the so-called ultra-conservative Liberty Forward Party (LFP) was launched by former Supreme Court Justice Lee Hoi-chang (who unsuccessfully ran for President twice on the ticket of GNP and once as an independent), and his supporters in early February, and LFP merged with the minor opposition People First Party (PFP) soon after under the same name of LFP. A faction from the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) which was opposed to its close ties with North Korea, formed the New Progressive Party mid-March, and pro- Park Geun-hye (former GNP Leader) members of GNP who did not get party nomination for April 8 Parliamentary elections launched the Pro-Park Guen-hye Alliance as a political party.
Korea plans to establish a state-run training centre for peacekeeping operations (PKO) by the end of 2009. The move is in line with President Lee
Myung-bak’s pledge to raise Korea’s international profile by participating in more peacekeeping operations around the world to match the nation’s economic status in the global community. The centre will take charge of educating and training PKO troops and other personnel including civilians, police officers and government officials, to be dispatched to international peacekeeping operations. Korea is the 10th largest donor to the UN but its troop contribution for UN peacekeeping missions remains 36th. About 400 Korean troops are taking part in UN peacekeeping operations in eight countries, including the 350 Dongmyeong Unit stationed in Lebanon.The New York Philharmonic played a historic concert in Pyongyang to an audience of 2,500 on 26 February. It was the first time that a major American cultural group has performed in North Korea. The orchestra played Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 "From the New World", George Gershwin’s "An American in Paris" and well-known Korean folk song “Arirang” as well as the national anthems of the two countries. People hope that the concert may hail a thaw in the long stand-off between the two countries. The concert was born out of talks last year on ending the North’s nuclear programme in exchange for aid.
The Korean economy expanded 5% in 2007 from a year earlier on strong exports, solid growth of facility investments and private spending. Exports of goods, which account for nearly 40% of the economy, rose 12% compared to the previous year on strong overseas shipments of chips and industrial goods. Facility investments grew 7.6% year-on-year in 2007 while construction investments expanded 1.2%. Private spending, one of the main growth engines of the economy, advanced 4.5% in 2007 from the previous year. For 2008, the Bank of Korea forecast that the Korean economy will likely expand 4.7% due to solid exports and private spending amid global uncertainties such as a US recession and high oil prices. The Korea Economic Research Institute
revised down its 2008 growth forecast for the Korean economy to 4.5% from an earlier 5.1 %, citing rising oil and commodity prices and a global economic slowdown. However, the growth-oriented Government of President Lee Myung-bak, has stuck to its goal of raising this year's economic growth to 6% by boosting corporate investment through tax cuts and deregulation.Korea plans to conduct formal free trade negotiations with the GCC states in April. The bloc is composed of six Arabian Gulf states: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait. A state-run think tank expects that Korea could enjoy an additional 0.54% increase in GDP if it seals a free trade deal with the GCC economies. Starting with the FTA with Chile in April 2004, Korea has sealed trade agreements with Singapore, the European Free Trade Association states made up of Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Korea signed an FTA pact with the US in June 2007, which is now awaiting ratification, and is currently in negotiation with Canada, the EU and India. top of page
According to the Foreign Ministry on 3 March, an international pact on the protection and management of fish in the high seas has come into effect in Korea. Korea has become the 68th country bound by the UN pact, first adopted in New York in August 1995 and which took effect internationally from December 2001. The pact includes guiding principles on managing and protecting fishes and maritime resources, and international efforts such as registration in other nations’ marine associations and searches of ships from other countries.
According to the Bank of Korea, Koreans emigrating to foreign countries are taking less money with them as they have become reluctant to purchase homes abroad amidst the sluggish US housing market in the wake of the subprime mortgage debacle and its ripple effect across the world. Korean emigrants took a total of US$16.5 million out of the country for overseas settlement in January this year, recording the lowest monthly figure since February 1998 when individuals took US$8.7 million abroad to settle down in foreign
countries. The figure has shown a sharp drop since it peaked at US$106.3 million in September 2005. In addition, Koreans’ purchase of overseas real estate has slowed, despite government deregulation. According to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, local residents purchased homes and other properties overseas worth US52 million in January, down 8.8% from US$57 million a month earlier. The Government eased restrictions on property investment overseas early last year, allowing Koreans to invest up to US$3 million in overseas real estate. However, there is no ceiling if the acquisition is for residential purposes.
According to the National Statistical Office (NSO), Korean parents spent about $26 billion on private education last year, which is close to one-tenth of the country’s budget. Many Korean parents believe that classes at schools may be falling behind cram schools in quality. NSO surveyed 34,000 parents of students in 272 primary, junior and high schools around the country. The survey showed that three out of four students, or 77%, are getting some form of private education, such as cram schools, private tutoring, or online classes, dedicating an average of 7.8 hours each week. When excluding students not getting any form of private education, those who did, were spending $280 per month on average. More than half of the students were depending on private education for mathematics and English, and cram schools were the most popular form of private education. Students with better school performance turned out to be relying more on private education. In case of those in the top 10% at school, nearly 90% were getting private education, spending $390 a month.
