President Lee with Um Hong-Gil

Korea's president in Greenland, with south korean climber Um Hong-gil!

Find out more on his facebook page!
www.facebook.com/leemyungbak

오늘 이른 아침 엄홍길 대장과 함께 숙소 근처를 산책하다가 바람이 너무 강해서 여러분께 보여드리려고 셀카를 찍어봤습니다. ^^

President Lee with Galaxy note 2

Korea's president Lee Myung-bak taking a photo with his galaxy note2!!

Find out more on his facebook page!
www.facebook.com/leemyungbak

President of the Republic of Korea Lee Myung-Bak

Korean President Lee starting Facebook

President Lee Myung-bak started his facebook!

Find out more on his facebook page!
www.facebook.com/leemyungbak

안녕하세요, 대통령 이명박입니다.

존경하고 사랑하는 국민 여러분과 조금 더 가까워지기를 소망하며 오늘부터 페이스북 페이지를 시작합니다.
오셔서 지나간 사진들과 최근 근황도 둘러보시고, 틈나는대로 세상사는 이야기도 나눌 수 있으면 좋겠습니다. 감사합니다.

Korean President Lee visiting Greenland

Korea's president Lee Myung-bak visiting Greenland!

Find out more on his facebook page!
www.facebook.com/leemyungbak

그린란드를 방문중입니다. 어제 오후 도착하자마자 유네스코 세계자연유산으로 지정된 일루리삿의 빙하 피요르드를 다녀왔습니다. 급격한 온난화로 인해 올 여름에 관측사상 최대치의 해빙이 기록되었다고 들었는데, 실제 와보니 북극권이라고 믿기 어려울 정도로 얼음이 많이 녹아있었습니다. 기후변화에 발빠르게 대처하고 국제사회와의 협력에 주도적으로 참여하여 미래의 기회를 선점해야 하겠습니다. 수행기자단이 촬영한 일몰 속의 빙하를 소개합니다.

Korean President Lee using Tablet PC

Korea's president Lee Myung-bak watching his face book with a tablet PC.

Find out more on his facebook page!
www.facebook.com/leemyungbak

많은 분들이 관심 가져 주셔서 고맙습니다. 일일이 댓글 달지 못하는 점 이해바랍니다. 틈나는대로 읽고 답글 다는 것도 신경쓰겠습니다. 아무래도 참모들의 도움을 좀 받아야 할 것 같아 걱정입니다. 오늘 오전에는 푸틴 러시아 대통령과 만나 양국 협력방안에 대해 깊은 논의를 했습니다.이번에 20년만에 블라디보스톡에 왔는데 APEC을 개최하면서 도시에 많은 변화가 있는 것 같습니다. 이제 곧 정상회의가 시작됩니다. 10시 넘어서까진 꼼짝 못하고 있어야 할 것 같습니다.

Analyzing The Obama-Lee Relationship

Why does U.S. President Barack Obama get along with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak so well?

One of the closest observers of U.S.-Korean relations in Washington, Gordon Flake, executive director of the Mansfield Foundation, has a different take on the relationship between the two presidents.

Mr. Flake says that Mr. Obama sees in Mr. Lee a leader who has clear ideas and doesn’t waste Mr. Obama’s time. As well, says Mr. Flake, South Korea as a country is clearly rising upward in its political, economic and cultural power.

“President Lee meets Obama and sets things in a strategic context, says this is what I’m doing and this is what I need the U.S. to do,” Mr. Flake said over coffee on a recent visit to Seoul for a nuclear disarmament conference. “For President Obama, that’s extremely refreshing, especially coming from an Asian leader.”

What’s often overlooked in both countries, Mr. Flake said, is how much the U.S.-South Korea relationship has come to encompass matters beyond South Korea’s security.

When Mr. Lee visited Washington last month (and was accorded a state dinner, the highest level of diplomatic hosting), the topic of North Korea was far down the agenda, below a number of economic items, Afghanistan and even piracy off the African coast.

“This is all a reflection of Korea’s growth and its rising stature around the world,” Mr. Flake said. He added he objects to the “prevailing narrative” with some South Koreans that the country is led around by the United States and that Lee does whatever Obama wants.

Instead, he said, “There is a national trajectory happening for South Korea. The country is seen in Washington and by other countries as hitting on all strides.”

Japan’s leadership appears lethargic, by contrast, and China’s appears stretched to the limits by the self-created problem of maintaining authoritarian politics in an increasingly free-wheeling economy.

For all of Mr. Lee’s difficulties in domestic politics, on the international stage, he’s created a strong image, helped in part by the natural forces of Korea’s rise and the difficulties being faced by neighboring countries.

“Who is more of a leader in Asia than Lee Myung-bak?” Mr. Flake asks. “There’s no one out there.”