(EDITORIAL from the Korea Herald on Jan. 9)

Lee-Aso summit

Whenever Seoul and Tokyo announce a schedule for summit talks between the heads
of the two governments, people here are generally conservative in their
expectations.

It is because pledges of stepped-up bilateral cooperation in
top-level dialogues have so often been rendered meaningless due to uncomfortable
developments involving Dokdo or other historical issues.
President Lee Myung-bak and Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso will meet in Seoul
next week to discuss an assortment of cooperative measures, topped by joint steps
to overcome the global financial crisis. Underlining its importance, Cheong Wa
Dae officials say that it will be Aso's first bilateral summit in a foreign
capital since he took office in September last year. A number of Japanese
business leaders will be accompanying the prime minister on the two-day visit,
which starts Sunday.
Yet, as if to provide the usual background furor to the diplomatic event, the
Japanese press revealed an embarrassing Tokyo government plan which immediately
triggered a wave of anti-Japan uproar. The Yomiuri Shimbun reported Tuesday that
Tokyo was drafting a 10-year resources research and development project which
would involve areas close to Dokdo islets in the East Sea.
When the Korean Embassy in Tokyo queried Japanese authorities about the report,
they replied that the plan was "not finalized." Thus Seoul's Foreign Ministry
served an initial warning with a mild statement that Korea "expects that Japan
will not include the Dokdo area in the survey in consideration of bilateral
relations between the two countries."
Many here instantly recall the dispute last year over the Japanese Education and
Science Ministry's guidebook for school teachers which contained Tokyo's
territorial claim to Dokdo. The controversy shattered a new mood of cooperation
which was about to be fomented after the two governments declared a
"future-oriented, mature partnership" during President Lee's official visit to
Tokyo in April.
Prime Minister Aso has so far shown a degree of prudence so as not to stir up
troubles in relations with Korea and China. At least, he has not visited the
Yasukuni Shrine, where war criminals are honored, or revealed any plan to do so.
History guidebooks published last November had no mention of a territorial claim
to Dokdo.
Aso's diplomatic approach to his Northeast Asian neighbors has been distinctively
proactive. Just last month, he hosted a three-nation summit with President Lee
and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Fukuoka to increase economic cooperation on the
regional level. He has already met President Lee four times on the sidelines of
multilateral summit conferences, including the emergency G20 in Washington.
Japan's seabed exploration plan, however, is a potentially explosive issue that
could undermine the ties that have been carefully fostered over the past months.
A return to enmity, such as the standoff in the East Sea between coast guard
vessels of the two countries over a different Japanese maritime survey project in
2006, is particularly undesirable during these extraordinary economic
circumstances.
Topics for the Lee-Aso summit in Seoul are not limited to the economy and trade
but include North Korean denuclearization, the war in Afghanistan and other
international problems that require positive involvement by the two nations as
major economic powers. Discussions and agreements in the meeting will provide the
basis of bilateral cooperative ties between the two countries while the two
leaders are in office.
Maximum efforts are needed to ensure an amicable and constructive atmosphere. The
maritime exploration plan, which involves an extremely sensitive zone, should be
scrapped, or at least be put to a joint study to avoid unnecessary friction.
(END)