Text Fwd: G-20 agenda enters spotlight as currency war rages on 환율 전쟁 발연과 함께 G20 안건 촛점

* Image & caption source:
'A billboard promoting the G-20 summit stands at the construction site of Seoul City hall,
Oct. 17. (Photo by Lee Jong-keun)'

Hankyoreh
G-20 agenda enters spotlight as currency war rages on
: Major agenda items remain in the hands of traditional economic powerhouses, a strengthening trend in the wake of the global economic recovery
By Park Hyun, Staff Writer
Oct. 18, 2010

As a heated “currency war” rages among major powers, interest in South Korea and overseas is focusing on the G-20 Summit scheduled to take place in Seoul on Nov. 11 and 12. The G-20 is significant in that unlike its predecessor, the G-8, it is a top forum for international economic discussions encompassing nearly all of the major emerging nations by continent and can therefore reflect the interests of those nations. However, it does possess the limitation of still having major agenda items dictated by advanced nations, particularly the United States.

The G-20 Summit was established in November 2008 to facilitate a concerted response to the global financial crisis. Sensing that it would be impossible to escape the once-in-a-century crisis without the cooperation of emerging nations, including Brazil, India, South Korea, and China, the world’s largest creditor nation, the G8 nations (the United States, Japan, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, and Russia) broadened the scope of the meeting to include the twenty major economies. Despite being an unofficial forum, the G-8 had exerted an influence on major international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank prior to the financial crisis, harmonizing an international economic order based on the key concept of the globalization of neoliberal capitalism.

The G-20 maintains that neoliberalist tenor under the leadership of Great Britain and the United States and possesses the fundamental limitation of completely excluding underdeveloped nations, including the countries of Africa. However, it is significant in offering a forum for emerging nations that had previously hovered around the periphery to move into the center.

Hanshin University Economics Professor Chun Chang-hwan, said, “For the time being, it is unlikely that the G-20 will completely take the place of the G8.” At the same time, Chun said, “It is meaningful in that the forum for discussing global economic cooperation and coordination of oversight systems of international financial regulations has shifted from the G-8 to the G-20.”

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* You may see also:

Hankyoreh
Opinions diverge over G-20’s clout
: Experts have remain divided on whether the summit will have a significant role in global economic policy
Posted on : Oct.18,2010
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*Related blog 관련 블로그

Monday, September 20, 2010
Text Fwd: Put People First!: Launch of the “People’s Response Action against the G-20” on Sept. 15
9월 15일 G20대응민중행동’ 출범

Text fwd: Japan's Undermining Of Russian Sovereignty Won't Be Tolerated: President

* Text informed at StopNATO*

http://www.russiatoday.com/Politics/2009-05-29/_Japan_s_undermining_of_Russian_sovereignty_not_tolerated____Medvedev.html
Russia Today, May 29, 2009
“Japan’s undermining of Russian sovereignty not tolerated” – Medvedev

Japan's attempts to undermine the Russian sovereignty of the disputed Kuril Islands will not be tolerated, said President Dmitry Medvedev as he accepted the credentials of newly-appointed ambassadors in Moscow.

Blessed with a unique ecosystem, the Kuril Islands became part of Russia following an agreement reached at the Yalta Conference – the second of the two key WWII international conferences.

Tokyo refused to both recognize the Yalta Conference decision and sign a peace agreement with Moscow ever since.

Throughout the years Kuril Islands shifted from the focal point of Russian-Japanese relations to a background issue and back again, essentially remaining the most popularized Russian territorial dispute.

The year of 2009 has somewhat revived the issue and might well see a new twist in the islands’ fate. In late April a high-ranking Japanese official suggested Russia and Japan divide up the Kurils, infuriating his country’s authorities.

During his visit to Tokyo in May, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin agreed to have the Kuril issue discussed at the upcoming G8 summit in Italy on July 8-10, where Russia will be represented by President Dmitry Medvedev.

Evidently not everyone in Japan was content to wait till July. Speaking at the parliament Japan’s Prime Minister on May 21, Taro Aso referred to the Southern Kurils as “illegally occupied territories”.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry has already reacted to Aso’s statement and now President Medvedev said he hopes Japan will carefully consider its actions.

“We can't leave unnoticed some recent attempts by our Japanese partners questioning the sovereignty of the Russian Federation over the Kuril Islands. Using unilateral means that fall beyond the scope of the legal framework is unacceptable. Of course, such actions don't contribute to holding further negotiations. That's something that needs to be taken into consideration. I hope that Tokyo will adequately evaluate the current situation and draw the correct conclusions from it,” Medvedev said.
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