Australian PM launches country strategy for South Korea

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Wednesday launched a country strategy for strengthening ties with South Korea, said a press release by the prime minister. During a visit to the electorate of Bennelong in Sydney, Rudd also announced Korean would now be included as a national priority Asian language along with Mandarin, Indonesian, Hindi and Japanese. The Australia in the Asian Century Country Strategy for the Republic of Korea outlines the Labor government's vision of what Australia's relationship with South Korea should be by 2025 across education, culture and business. Although Australia and South Korea already share trade worth 32 billion AU dollars (28.7 billion U.S. dollars), it is recognized there is significant untapped potential in our economic relationship. "The country strategy highlights the need to deepen our relationship with the Republic of Korea, and identifies opportunities to expand multilateral cooperation in non- proliferation, climate change, science and technology research and development," the release said. Rudd also recognized the South Korean community's contributions to the development of the South Korean Country Strategy. Consultations on the strategy were held throughout April and May with business, academia, local government, youth groups, and community organizations participating in roundtable meetings and public forums in each State and Territory capital. South Korea, China, India, Indonesia and Japan were identified as the initial priority countries for the development of country strategies under the Australia in the Asian Century White Paper, released in October, 2012. These countries were chosen due to their size, economic links with Australia, and their strategic and political influence in the region and globally. "Over the past 50 years, South Korea has successfully transformed its economic landscape, developing into the world's 12th largest economy based on purchasing power parity, with a gross domestic product of about 1.6 trillion AU dollars (1.4 trillion U.S. dollars)," the release said. During Rudd's visit to Indonesia in early July, Australia announced the Indonesia Country Strategy, making it the first country strategy under the Asian Century White Paper.