Park, Obama vow to move S. Korea-US alliance beyond security-oriented to "global partnership"

South Korean President Park Geun-hye and US President Barack Obama held a summit talk in the White House Tuesday (local time), where they decided to advance the current security-oriented strategic alliance to a "global partnership" that covers cooperation in areas including diplomacy, climate change, nuclear power, and aids for developing countries.

The two leaders also shared a consensus on the mutual trust-building process on the Korean Peninsula, an agenda President Park has vowed to fulfill since her presidential candidacy, and agreed to solidify its united voice against North Korea.

The two presidents announced a joint declaration calling for strengthened cooperation in a joint press conference at the White House to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the bilateral alliance.

The declaration, a core achievement of the summit talk, is that the bilateral relation will move beyond an alliance concentrated on the 60-year old mutual defense treaty to one encompassing global issues. It suggests that based on a consensus, the two countries will be exploring a more constructive role in international issues, such as climate change, nuclear power and aids for developing nations, as well as peace keeping activities.

[Written by Kim Sun-kul]

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