The G20 Seoul Summit closes today. The leaders of the 20 biggest economies in the world and a number of emerging nations have spent two days discussing some of the weightiest problems the world faces today.
President Lee Myung Bak, as host, has been seated in the chair at the center of the conference hall, as Seoul has appeared on news bulletins around the globe.
South Korea’s G20 membership is one indicator that it has become a leading nation, a member of the global steering committee. G20 nations account for approximately 70% of the global population, 85% of the world’s GDP, more than 80% of trade volumes. South Korea is set to serve as a leader in global governance in the future.
As Shin Jae Yoon, the South Korean Assistant Deputy Finance Minister commented jokingly, “I have been accustomed to simply transcribing the information at international conferences, but now I have to write the script; it is hard.” This is the change of status we are practically experiencing.
South Korea took its first steps as an official member of the international community by joining the United Nations, alongside North Korea, in 1991. Shortly thereafter, in 1995, Seoul joined the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and in 2008 joined the G20. A South Korean is also the sitting Secretary General of the United Nations.
Although the international community had already come to recognize the differences between South and North Korea by 1991, they could not have anticipated how drastic the difference in national power would become, 20 years later.
The fundamental forces which have allowed South Korea to enjoy rapid growth in its global role since 1991 are globalization and the attitude of South Korean leaders and citizens, who consider the opening as a challenge rather than something to fear.
However, North Korea has done nothing but retreat since 1991. They have become poorer, more reclusive and more hostile. Now, they are attempting to perpetuate this historical retreat via the third generation succession.
It is to be hoped that Kim Jong Eun is well aware of the G20 Summit. Once he has come to appreciate the problems his republic faces, he will arrive at the answer: democracy and opening. After all, his father cannot live forever, which means that, in the end, Kim Jong Eun will be the one making the decision. It is time for North Korea to initiate reform, even if it means entering the future on China’s back.
