SEOUL, KOREA — Last week saw over 57 world leaders gather in Seoul for the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit, the largest international meeting on nuclear issues and the largest international conference in Korea’s history.With a total of 53 states and four international organizations represented at the event, over 3,700 journalists from major media outlets worldwide also attended. Foreign press coverage of Korea in the days leading up to the event, as well as in the days that followed, offers insights into current perceptions of Korea’s growing role and influence in the international arena.
Increased global presence
On March 12, The Washington Times published an article titled “World leaders to attend Korea nuke summit” on the topic of South Korea’s emerging international prominence. The article quoted Victor Cha, former director of Asian Affairs on the National Security Council and chairman of the Korea program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), as saying that “the reputation of Korea internationally is quite high.”
Cha also assessed the trajectory of The President’s term, referring to the G-20, the PyeongChang Olympic bid, and the Nuclear Security Summit as “three very clear benchmarks for [The President’s] view that Korea should be more global and should not simply be wrapped around the axle about North Korea.”
After the event, on March 28, the Japanese newspaper the Tokyo Shimbun published an article on the outcome of the Nuclear Security Summit, mentioning the significant leadership role taken by Korea during the event. The article also highlighted the consensus achieved among the leaders present in denouncing North Korea’s planned rocket launch.
Additional international media outlets, including The New York Times, the Asahi Shimbun, the Xinhua News Agency, the Information Telegraph Agency of Russia, Le Monde, the Financial Times, and The Daily Telegraph, had the opportunity to attend a group press conference and interview session with President Lee during the week of the summit.
President Obama on Hallyu
Another issue of interest during the NSS was the partnership between The President and President Obama, with President Obama’s visit to the DMZ (demilitarized zone) and his fluency in Korean culture becoming hot topics in the international press.
Reporting on President Obama’s speech at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, a March 26 article in The Los Angeles Times described President Obama as “among” those who have caught the Korean wave, citing his name-checking of South Korea’s social networking trends like Me2Day and Kakao Talk. The article went on to report that, “with three presidential trips, Seoul gets the designation of Obama’s most-visited foreign capital.”
The Associated Press, in an article published two days earlier on March 24, also looked at President Obama’s activities in Korea, drawing attention to the rarity of a one-country-stop visit to Asia by an American president during an election year.
Korea’s green growth policies in focus
With regards to Korea’s energy polices, an article in German daily newspaper Die Tageszeitung argued that Korea’s hosting this year’s Nuclear Security Summit could be interpreted as part of a larger effort to expand its nuclear energy industry and become a top three international exporter of nuclear power plants.
“We are committed to increasing energy efficiency and the share of renewables, including solar and nuclear power, in our energy mix,” PM Singh was reported as saying in a speech to Korean CEOs during his visit to Seoul. “There will be large business opportunities and I am aware of Korean capabilities in environmentally friendly technologies.”On March 26, the Wall Street Journal blog featured an article on the same topic, discussing the interest shown by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Korean development of nuclear energy in India and the preparations for Korean steel company Posco’s USD 12 billion plant in India.
*Article from Korea magazine
