S. Korean president says Cambodia a 'valuable' partner for growth

By Byun Duk-kun

PHNOM PENH, Oct. 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak expressed hope to significantly improve his country's relations with Cambodia Thursday, saying cooperation between the two will provide new opportunities for growth for both of them.

"Cooperation between the two countries is being actively made in various fields and considering the complementary nature of their economies and the enactment of a free trade agreement between South Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as Cambodia's rapid economic growth, the cooperation will continue to show remarkable growth," Lee said in an interview with Cambodia's largest daily Rasmei Campuchea, published Thursday.

The transcript of the interview, held in Seoul before Lee's departure on his ongoing three-nation Southeast Asian tour, was released by his presidential office Cheong Wa Dae as Lee was en route to the Cambodian capital from Vietnam.

Both Vietnam and Cambodia are members of the 10-nation ASEAN, which will meet in Thailand on Saturday.

Lee said the countries' relations improved at an unprecedented pace since they normalized diplomatic ties in 1997, during which direct investment by South Korean firms in Cambodia jumped 75 times to nearly US$2.5 billion.

"As we face a great opportunity to further improve our countries' relationship this year through exchange of visits with Prime Minister Hun Sen, I hope the countries will hold discussions on various measures for their joint development during my visit this time," he said.

Lee and Hun Sen had held a bilateral summit in June when the Cambodian prime minister visited South Korea for a special Korea-ASEAN summit, at which South Korea agreed to provide $60 million to Cambodia in loans from its Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF).

Lee and the Cambodian prime minister were set to hold a bilateral summit here later in the day, at which the sides will sign a revision to their basic agreement on the EDCF that will lead to Seoul's provision of $200 million from 2009-2012, he said.

The South Korean leader also called for efforts to build a regional community in East Asia as his trip largely aims to improve Korea's relations with ASEAN countries under its "New Asia Initiative."

"The efforts to strengthen regional cooperation and integration in the East Asian region must first focus on areas where cooperation is readily possible. And during that process, we must seek to build an open and inclusive community, rather than a closed and exclusive group of countries," he said.

Lee also sought to win Cambodia's support for his country's efforts to denuclearize North Korea, explaining in detail his recent proposal for a "grand bargain" denuclearization of the communist North.

"This (proposal) seeks to fundamentally resolve the North Korean nuclear issue by completely removing the key elements of the North's nuclear programs from the very start," he said.

The president said his country will also work to promote Cambodia and other ASEAN nations' interests in the international community.

South Korea is set to host a G-20 summit in November 2010 while it is also set to take the chair of the economic conference for the year.