Korea and Burma (Myanmar)

Lee Myung-bak is in Burma in support of their democracy movement and to visit the memorial of the victims of the 1983 bombings that killed most of the south Korean cabinet of he time. It was carried out by north Korean agents who subsequently killed themselves or were arrested by authorities in Burma and executed. It also led to a cutting of all diplomatic ties between north Korea and Burma from 1983-2007, when relations were resumed after north Korea was one of the few nations to support their crackdown on monk dissents in Rangoon.

Well five years later and Burma has had what are by all accounts free elections and a resumption of free press spearheaded by the very military leaders who have ruled for so long. The U.S and European leaders have already sent visits but the Korean visit is considered especially important, as it is the first presidential visit by a democratically elected Asian leader. Also, he is from a country that had its own rise from post-colonial poverty and military rule to wealth and a free, plural society, a feat only matched by Taiwan (and due to China/Burma relations a high level visit from there is unlikely). It is also important because this successful trip is the first from a Korean leader since the 1983 attack and it went off without a hitch.

Certainly Burma has a long way to go. It lags behind other ASEAN nations such as Thailand and Malaysia and well behind Singapore, but this is a promising start to a new era. Whether Burma will begin to compete with Thailand and Bali for Korean tourist dollars (or won :P) remains to be seen, but at the very least it puts to rest a very dark time in Korean politics and opens up new opportunities for two Asian nations to forge peaceful relations.