Video #10 - President Bush Visits South Korea - Background Reports
Monday, January 09, 2006BACKGROUND INFORMATION
In his State of the Union address on January 29, President Bush referred to North Korea, Iran and Iraq as an "axis of evil." Considering that South Korean President Kim Dae Jung won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2000 for his efforts to open a dialogue with the North, President Bush's hard line has not been well received by many South Koreans. This led to anti-American demonstrations when President Bush visited South Korea in February.
Barbara Demick, staff writer for the Los Angeles Times finds this reaction to be "surprising, given that South Korea is considered among the most steadfast of U.S. allies." She notes that the U.S. intervened in the 1950-53 Korean War to repel an invasion of the south by communist North Korea, backed by China. But increasingly, Demick writes, "young South Koreans are asking whether, 50 years later, the United States has not become an obstacle to reconciliation with the North."
In fact, South Korea is deeply polarized over the best way to deal with North Korea; and many people, especially the older generation, respect Bush for speaking out harshly against Pyongyang. "It is not the sunshine policy that has prevented war with North Korea. It is the deterrent power of the U.S. Army that has been here for 50 years. We mature people know that. The younger people who weren't born during the Korean War can't understand," said Choi Woon Sang, 76, a retired diplomat who is co-president of a group supporting Bush's visit. "Bush was right. He pointed out the real character of North Korea."
South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, who took office at the peak of the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, has one year left in his five-year term. He has partially fulfilled campaign promises to clean up the debt-laden economy, attract foreign investors and steer South Korea back to economic growth. After shrinking 5.8 percent in 1998, South Korea's economy bounced back quickly, growing 10.9 percent in 1999 and 8.8 percent in 2000. The faltering U.S. economy caused the nation's exports to drop 12.5 percent last year, since the U.S. traditionally buys about a quarter of all South Korean exports. But the slowdown of technology sales to the U.S. was offset by exports of cars and ships and strong domestic consumption. As a result of that diversification, the South Korean economy grew an estimated 2.8% last year.
Experts forecast that the U.S. economy to bottom out and begin recovering, leading South Korea to export more cars, steel and computer chips to America. Conversely, South Korea is the sixth-largest market for U.S. exports. However, U.S. officials have urged South Korea to further open its automobile, agricultural and pharmaceutical markets, with the American Chamber of Commerce noting "lingering nationalistic and occasional anti-foreign sentiments."
During the past year, Seoul had one of the world's best-performing stock markets, rising by 32 percent. Nevertheless, foreign direct investment in plants, acquisitions and large purchases of stocks, a measure of investors' confidence, fell 24.4 percent to $11.87 billion. "Among the main obstacles were intransigent labor and lack of transparency in financial reporting: foreign investors could not trust the figures presented," notes Sang-Hun Choe of the Associated Press. In the past year, U.S. insurance giant AIG stopped its planned $833 million takeover of Hyundai Securities. Deutsche Bank withdrew from talks to buy Seoul Bank. U.S.-based Micron Technology's investment talks with Hynix Semiconductor and General Motors Corporation's takeover talks with Daewoo Motor are moving slowly.
Early this year, The American Chamber of Commerce in South Korea asked executives from 70 multinational corporations where in Asia they most wanted to do business. Seoul ranked last after Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo. Nevertheless, South Korea's geographical location and skilled work force makes the country attractive. According to Jeffrey Jones, the Chamber's president, multinational corporations may be considering leaving Hong Kong and Singapore because of high operating costs and the shift of markets toward North Asia. However, Mr. Jones adds: "South Korea needs to lower taxes, reduce foreign exchange controls and make it easier to fire workers if it wants to host the regional headquarters of multinational corporations."
SOURCES:
Choe, Sang-Hun, "Economic woes Shadow South Korea," AP Online, February 19, 2002. www.elibrary.com
Demick, Barbara, "Visit Stirring Up Anti-Americanism," Los Angeles Times, Home Edition Part A, Page 3 February 18, 2002. www.elibrary.com
Soo-Jeong Lee, "US. Chamber of Commerce Urges South Korea to Offer More Incentives for Multinationals," AP Worldstream, March 13, 2002. www.elibrary.com
LESSON PLAN
GRADE LEVEL/SUBJECT: 10-12/Economics, International Relations, World History, International Baccalaureate Programs (IB), Current Events
PURPOSE:
To present activities to be used in a variety of classroom situations in order to enhance student understanding of the South Korean economy and its significance globally.
OBJECTIVES:
Students will be able to:
- Explain the history of U.S.-South Korean relations.
- Illustrate the economic interdependence of the United States and South Korea.
- Try to forecast the future of South Korean-U.S. relations.
MATERIALS:
- Background information provided.
- Resources on South Korea available at your school's Media Center and the Public Library System in your area.
- Background information available through Internet "search engines."
ACTIVITIES:
May be assigned as group activities or as individual tasks. They may also be designed as preparation for related presentations either by individuals or groups.
- Create a time line of events linking the United States with South Korea.
- Use charts and graphs to illustrate the economic interdependence of the United States and South Korea.
- Role play a panel discussion of South Korean guests including a young college student majoring in economics, an elderly retired diplomat and a middle-aged business executive, on President Bush's opinion of the North Korean government.
- Write an editorial expressing your views on President Bush's assessment of North Korea's present government. Use facts to support your opinion.
EVALUATION:
Individual assignments should be graded by the teacher using established criteria.
Group activities, presentations and projects may be evaluated by teachers and students using the following criteria and scale:
Content Creativity Clarity
1 = Superior (A) 2 = Excellent (B) 3 = Good (C) 4 = Fair (D) 5 = Poor (F)
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