The
year of 2012 is the last year of Practical Government in the five-year office term of Lee Myung-bak.There are so many
political issues in South Korea and mixed reviews on his times.It is more
attractive about political advance and retreat of Ahn Cheol-soo.However,the biggest issue is the election of membes of the 19th congress and
the president.The result of the election of congress is that the conservatives
still hold the dominant position,which paved the way
for presidential election.In the election in December 2012,Park Geun-hye
got a narrow victory from Moon Jae-in,who is the candidate of Democratic United Party,and became the first female president in history of South Korean
constitutional government.It is a challenge for Park Geun-hye to proceed reform in
domestic and foreign policy by solving the confrontation of conservative and
progressive parties on the problem how to interact with other parties and impel
economic and political democracy.
South
Korea got a good economic development in 2012 in the background that the world
economy remains weak because of the European debt crisis,especially in foreign trade.It became the the Worlds 8th trading nation after
gaining a trillion dollars again.However,the
economic development will also face problems of low interest rate,low growth and the aging of population in 2013.The development of
South Korea in 2013 or future will be influenced by whether the FTA negotiation
can show substantial progress and what domestic and foreign polices can be made
out by Park Geun-hye.
In
the tide of general elections of Northeast Asia in 2012,South Korea kept its relations with US by focusing on security and
economic diplomacy.It got a steady pace in relation development with China and
other powers,and its international diplomacy showed its
international standinAlthough the inter-Korean relations between
North and South Korea is basically stable,there is no
sign of detente because of some uncertain factors and emergency.President Park
will continue to strengthen the relations with US and China,impel the FTA negotiation which was initiated in November 2012,and devote herself to improving relations between North and South
Korea although it will not go smoothly or even become another highly
antagonistic situation because of the nuclear test and contradictions among
surrounding powers.
The
year of 2012 will be the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic
relations between China and South Korea.In the last 20 years,we exchanged our needs in culture,shared and
won in diplomacy,complemented each other in economy and
trade,promoted mutually in science and technology.The
Sino-South
Korea relation saw a outstanding achievement and a rapid development.In order
to celebrate the anniversary,both sides held a series
of exchange activities.In 2013,the two countries will
deepen their strategic partnership,keep high-level exchanges,do more cooperation in the fields of politics,economy and humanity.The FTA negotiation will also be sped up to
promote a new development of Sino-South Korea relation.