Oh Se-hoon "Right Time for Korea-China-Japan Relations Recovery... Proposes Full-Scale Promotion of <b class="bold">Veseto</b>"

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon announced that he will lead the restoration of BeSeTo, a cooperative system among Seoul, Beijing in China, and Tokyo in Japan. He judged that although the people of Korea, China, and Japan have grown closer, their respective governments have not kept pace with this trend. Mayor Oh believes that BeSeTo can lead to improved relations among the three governments.

During his official visit to China, Mayor Oh held a joint press conference in Beijing on the 31st of last month and said, "On this visit, I proposed the idea of fully activating the friendly cooperative relationship among the three BeSeTo cities." Seoul, Beijing, and Tokyo established a cooperative system among the three capitals in 1995 at Seoul's initiative, and have actively exchanged under the abbreviation 'BeSeTo' (Beijing·Seoul·Tokyo) derived from the English initials.

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Following the trend of transitioning to an era of cooperation and competition among key cities of the three countries, the three capitals signed a memorandum of understanding on BeSeTo cooperation aimed at joint prosperity, supporting exchanges and cooperation in all fields including administration and the private sector. Since then, cultural and sports exchanges such as youth volleyball tournaments and art exhibitions have been promoted 16 times, but since 1999, BeSeTo mayoral meetings have been suspended and only private-level exchanges have continued.

In response, Mayor Oh said, "Now is the right time to make the proposal," adding, "Since the Yoon Seok-yeol administration took office, relations with Japan and the Korea-US-Japan relationship have been very well restored, and relations with China have also entered a thaw period, moving away from 'wolf diplomacy'." He further explained, "The ambassador who made Korean people feel uncomfortable has completed his term and returned to China, so I feel that this is an appropriate timing to make a suitable proposal."

Regarding Tokyo, he said, "Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike has not visited Korea, but we visited first, and before any action in Beijing, we boldly proposed a visit first," adding, "We tried to create a situation where progress with Governor Koike could be made." Seoul City plans to set the direction for reestablishing BeSeTo relations through expert consultations by September and propose related practical discussions to Beijing and Tokyo around October. Next year, the goal is to declare a future-oriented relationship among Seoul, Beijing, and Tokyo and respond to and cooperate on common issues.

Mayor Oh also expressed his views on domestic political issues. He highly evaluated the private meeting between President Yoon Seok-yeol and the newly appointed People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon, saying, "I think the party-government relationship is like a three-legged race with two people, and if the coordination is off and we fall, the damage goes directly to the people. I believe the first step of this two-person three-legged race started with this meeting." He added, "I hope the party-government relationship continues to progress smoothly as it has started."

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