Lee makes historic trip to Myanmar

Scheduled to meet opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday

NAYPYIDAW -- President Lee Myung-bak arrived in Myanmar on Monday in a historic visit that showed Seoul's commitment to enhancing ties with the resource-rich, rapidly reforming country.

It was the first time a South Korean head of state had visited Myanmar since 1983, when a bombing by North Korean agents in Yangon killed 17 Seoul officials accompanying then-President Chun Doo-hwan.

Lee landed in the administrative capital of Naypyidaw amid tight security.

On Tuesday morning, Lee will fly to Yangon to meet iconic opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The Nobel peace laureate recently entered parliament after spending more than two decades under house arrest.

A few hours after touching down here, Lee held summit talks with Myanmarese President Thein Sein, whose nominally civilian government has been praised internationally for its recent political and economic reforms.

President Lee Myung-bak (right) and his Myanmarese counterpart Thein Sein walk together for a summit meeting at the Presidential Palace in Naypyitaw on Monday. (Yonhap News)

They discussed ways to share South Korea's development experience, increase cultural and people-to-people exchanges and deepen cooperation in business and trade.

Lee has met Sein twice before -- at a summit involving South Korea and the Association of South East Asian Nations on Jeju Island in June 2009, and on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in Bali, Indonesia, in November. Sein had invited him at the November meeting.

Lee came here after his three-day visit to Beijing for the annual summit with the leaders of Japan and China.

"(Seoul is) confident that his visit will deepen the friendly, cooperative relationship with Myanmar, which has continued since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1975," Cheong Wa Dae said in a press release.

"(South Korea) is expected to contribute to the international community's efforts to support Myanmar's endeavors for reform and openness."

Korea's relationship with Myanmar has been limited due to international criticism for the country's decades-old military dictatorship, brutal crackdowns on democracy movements and human rights abuses.

Myanmar's alleged clandestine military cooperation with Pyongyang has also frayed ties with Seoul. After the 1983 bombing, Myanmar severed ties with the North, but it restored their relationship in 2007.

During the meeting with Suu Kyi, Lee is to stress that South Korea will join the international efforts for Myanmar's democratization and improved human rights conditions, his office said in a press release.

Lee will also ask her to visit Seoul at her convenient time.

Suu Kyi's grueling struggle for reforms and national reconciliation has recently begun bearing fruit.

Since late last year, the Myanmarese regime has taken considerable steps toward democracy, which the U.S., the EU and others have rewarded by lifting or relaxing long-standing economic sanctions.

It has freed hundreds of political prisoners, eased media control, reached truces with ethnic rebels and held by-elections that enabled Suu Kyi to enter parliament.

The eased sanctions have triggered competition among many countries over Myanmar's vast reserves of oil, natural gas and other resources. Global powers including China have vied to court the country particularly for its geostrategic location next to the Indian Ocean and crucial sea lanes of communication.

"Although it has had close ties with India and China, with whom it shares borders, it is also looking for partners outside the region who can maintain cooperative ties with it," said Kim Tae-hyo, senior presidential secretary for national security strategy.

"As we start discussions with Myanmar from now on, we can come up with sufficient alternatives concerning issues of economic development and democratization, and the blocking of military cooperation between North Korea and Myanmar."

Despite Myanmar's economic potential, trade between South Korea and Myanmar has been constrained by its closed-door policy and international sanctions. Last year, the two-way trade volume reached just $970 million.

Currently, some 170 South Korean firms, mostly from the manufacturing and service sectors, are operating in Myanmar. South Korea ranked fourth last month in terms of its investment into the country, following China, Thailand and Hong Kong.

By Song Sang-ho ( sshluck@heraldm.com)