Despite numerous differences, two leaders unite
Published: 01 Feb. 2010, 21:03
They come from different backgrounds, have different personalities, and there’s a 16-year age gap between them.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, 68, is a former businessman who honed his leadership skills in the corporate world. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, 52, is a long-time diplomat who has been posted in Sweden and China.
Lee is a no-nonsense type known as “The Bulldozer” for his aggressive, no-holds-barred style. Rudd is an outgoing personality who manages his own Twitter account, with tens of thousands of followers all over the world.
None of these differences have kept the two leaders from maintaining a close relationship. Since he took office in February 2008, Lee has met Rudd on nine occasions. They’ve also had frequent phone conversations. When Rudd organized a meeting in Sydney to discuss the idea of an Asia-Pacific Community to bring together nations in the region, he even asked Lee to give the keynote address.
Lee’s aides talked him out of it. They told him it would be inappropriate for the South Korean president to attend a semi-governmental and semi-private international conference. But that Lee considered going attests to the level of his and Rudd’s relationship.
Australia and Korea established diplomatic ties in 1961. Australia also sent more than 17,000 troops to the Korean War and was the second nation, after only the United States, to dispatch soldiers here.
It’s the world’s sixth-largest nation, about 35 times as big as the Korean Peninsula, but its population of about 26.1 million is less than half of South Korea’s.
According to the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, Australia was Korea’s eighth-largest trading partner in 2008. The bilateral trade volume has steadily risen from $8.3 billion in 2002 to $23.2 billion in 2008.
Australia even has diplomatic relations with North Korea, which were first established in 1974. Although the ties broke off a year later, they were restored in 2000. Currently, the Australian Embassy in Seoul handles North Korea.
All in all, Australia and South Korea have strong ties. And they may grow even stronger in the future. Rudd has pushed for the Asia-Pacific Community because, according to an unpublished article he wrote for Foreign Affairs journal, “Currently, there is no single institution in the Asia Pacific with the membership and the mandate to address both economic and strategic challenges.”
Whether South Korea should join the Asia-Pacific Community is debatable. For now, the two leaders will continue to have their phone conversations and meetings - or perhaps some Twitter exchanges.
By Yoo Jee-ho [[email protected]]
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, 68, is a former businessman who honed his leadership skills in the corporate world. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, 52, is a long-time diplomat who has been posted in Sweden and China.
Lee is a no-nonsense type known as “The Bulldozer” for his aggressive, no-holds-barred style. Rudd is an outgoing personality who manages his own Twitter account, with tens of thousands of followers all over the world.
None of these differences have kept the two leaders from maintaining a close relationship. Since he took office in February 2008, Lee has met Rudd on nine occasions. They’ve also had frequent phone conversations. When Rudd organized a meeting in Sydney to discuss the idea of an Asia-Pacific Community to bring together nations in the region, he even asked Lee to give the keynote address.
Lee’s aides talked him out of it. They told him it would be inappropriate for the South Korean president to attend a semi-governmental and semi-private international conference. But that Lee considered going attests to the level of his and Rudd’s relationship.
Australia and Korea established diplomatic ties in 1961. Australia also sent more than 17,000 troops to the Korean War and was the second nation, after only the United States, to dispatch soldiers here.
It’s the world’s sixth-largest nation, about 35 times as big as the Korean Peninsula, but its population of about 26.1 million is less than half of South Korea’s.
According to the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, Australia was Korea’s eighth-largest trading partner in 2008. The bilateral trade volume has steadily risen from $8.3 billion in 2002 to $23.2 billion in 2008.
Australia even has diplomatic relations with North Korea, which were first established in 1974. Although the ties broke off a year later, they were restored in 2000. Currently, the Australian Embassy in Seoul handles North Korea.
All in all, Australia and South Korea have strong ties. And they may grow even stronger in the future. Rudd has pushed for the Asia-Pacific Community because, according to an unpublished article he wrote for Foreign Affairs journal, “Currently, there is no single institution in the Asia Pacific with the membership and the mandate to address both economic and strategic challenges.”
Whether South Korea should join the Asia-Pacific Community is debatable. For now, the two leaders will continue to have their phone conversations and meetings - or perhaps some Twitter exchanges.
By Yoo Jee-ho [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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