since the G20 has emerged as a venue for addressing global financial issues at the leadership level. It also places the burden of proof on South Korea to show that an expanded forum beyond the G8 can provide effective global leadership in response to the crisis.

In London, last April, South Korea championed global coordination to promote macroeconomic stimulus that will provide $5 trillion for the next two years, and promoted $1.1 trillion in pledges for expanded funding through international financial institutions (IFIs) to counteract the effects of the global financial crisis on developing countries. South Korea has also stood against protectionist tendencies, sponsoring ‘standstill’ and ‘rollback’ pledges among G20 countries not to utilize protectionist measures in the face of the crisis, as G20 Summit Coordinating Committee Chairman Il Sakong explained in the Center for U.S.-Korea Policy’s May newsletter.

As a former CEO, South Korea’s President Lee Myung-Bak is well-qualified to promote recovery measures designed to promote an early exit from the crisis. Under Lee’s leadership, South Korea’s own efforts to promote economic recovery have yielded early results and are strongly in line with those of the Obama administration, in no small part because Lee conceives of U.S.-ROK economic coordination as an opportunity to expand the U.S.-ROK alliance. In his September 21 speech to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, Lee emphasized that he and President Obama have ‘agreed that this alliance will no longer just be about ensuring security, but much more. It will continue to carry out its purpose of securing peace, but at the same time it will be a comprehensive strategic alliance for the 21st century that encompasses economic, social, cultural, educational, scientific, and technological cooperation.’ This suggests that Lee conceives the success of South Korea’s G20 leadership as directly tied to expanded alliance coordination with the United States, and it suggests that such coordination has a raison d’etre that extends far beyond deterring North Korea.

Another component of Lee’s agenda with the United States is the pending Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA), which has been stalled by the need for further discussions over Congressional concerns regarding provisions of the FTA that deal with the politically sensitive auto sector. As CSIS’s Steven Schrage has argued in the Center for U.S.-Korea Policy’s April newsletter, South Korea’s successful stewardship of the G20 and Congressional ratification of the KORUS FTA should go hand-in-hand, further strengthening the argument for enhanced U.S.-ROK strategic cooperation to lead on global economic issues.

South Korea’s great challenge and opportunity is to show that the G20 can maintain effectiveness even as the crisis subsides and to ensure that this is not a ‘crisis wasted,’ by carrying through on reforms that will prevent the recurrence of such crises. In the future, challenges for the Pittsburgh meeting include consideration of measures to counter rising unemployment or inflation in the global economy while laying the foundations for sustainable and balanced global growth. South Korea’s proposals going into the meeting include the mobilization of IFIs to produce recommendations for post-crisis global economic management, the establishment of a trust fund to expand access by developing countries to financial assistance in times of financial crisis, kick-starting the Doha round of trade negotiations, and reaffirming ‘standstill’ and ‘rollback’ commitments against protectionism.

Mo Jongryn of Yonsei University argues that the rise of the G20 – and South Korea’s assumption of leadership in the G20 – is an opportunity for Asia to show leadership that redresses Asia’s past under-representation in proportion to its economic weight in the international community. He also argues that such an opportunity may be lost unless Asians themselves show more cohesion and distinctive contributions in the face of the economic crisis. The G20 is a venue that gives Asians a seat at the table, but such an opportunity will be wasted unless Asians deliver in providing a distinctive and effective agenda.

South Korea must infuse its G20 chairmanship with substantive and effective leadership if the G20 is to cement its role as the main venue for expanded economic coordination. South Korea’s handling of its G20 chairmanship is a make or break opportunity on many different levels. The pressure is on South Korea to show that it can live up to the task by catalyzing global coordination of exit strategies from the crisis and by addressing global imbalances between developing and industrialized countries. Expanded U.S.-ROK alliance coordination to address global economic issues will continue to be a cornerstone of South Korea’s efforts.

Scott Snyder, Director, Center for U.S.-Korea Policy, Asia Foundation.

This article was originally published here by the Asia Foundation.