[Editorial] APEC Must Be Stepping Stone for Peace and Prosperity

The APEC summit meeting taking place in Busan on November 18 and 19 is "the world's largest multi-party summit format," the "only regional organization in which China, Russia, Japan, and the United States participate," and with 37,000 security personnel, the largest operation of its kind since the founding of the Republic of Korea. It is also very significant that it is being held in Korea for the first time since APEC began in 1993.

The organization is supposed to develop free trade and create an Asia-Pacific region that is safe and transparent. Trade liberalization can be a two-edged sword; it is a main means of promoting trade and investment and thereby creating an active economy and it can also intensify conflict and disparity between the rich and poor. That is why civic groups have formed the "People's Action against APEC and Bush" and are planning massive demonstrations. Korea, as the host nation, needs to exercise leadership in making sure that trade liberalization is taken in well-coordinated stages, instead of with a hurried schedule, so that the benefits can be enjoyed by all.

Of more note are the separate summit meetings that begin on Tuesday. All of the countries participating in the six-party talks, with exception to North Korea, are holding talks, and they need to work out the specifics on implementing the September 19 Joint Declaration to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue and establish the foundations for peace on the Korean peninsula. One hopes to see deep discussion on the future-oriented development of the US-Korea alliance, including the issue of returning wartime command authority to Korea, at the US-Korea summit talks on Tuesday in Gyeongju. The next day there will be summit talks between Korea and Japan, and the Korean people's anger and the Korean government's strong determination about the issue of worship at the Yasukuni Shrine must be made clear in that format.

It will also be important that the event is done neatly and makes an impression, so as to enjoy the most publicity possible. One particularly hopes that Busan, which is already known internationally for the Pusan International Film Festival, can be reborn as a "global conference city" and the "logistics and culture hub of Northeast Asia."

The Hankyoreh, 16 November 2005.

[Translations by Seoul Selection]