Obama welcomed in South Korea as trip nears end

Obama joined President Lee Myung-bak at the Blue House, South Korea's version of the White House, where the U.S. leader took in spectacular views of the hills of Seoul on a chilly, gray morning. Obama stood on red-carpeted steps and looked out on military regiments in colorful garb and flag-waving children.

The leaders walked down to the sprawling manicured lawn, taking in the pageantry as Obama shook hands. It was symbolic of America's ever-improving relations with South Korea, a crucial Asian ally.

"This was the most spectacular ceremony for a state visit we have been involved with," Obama gushed as the two leaders began their meetings. Said Lee of Obama's Asia trip: "You saved the best for last."

The two men were meeting privately before they were scheduled to make formal statements. In brief comments before reporters, Obama praised the success of the South Korean economy, saying it was one reason why the nation has become an important player on the world stage.

A stalled trade agreement, though, still looms as a concern for the economic powerhouses.

Obama, winding up his weeklong Asian journey, is expected to emphasize the two nations' unified efforts to prod a defiant North Korea out of its nuclear weapons program. He's also welcoming South Korea's return to helping U.S. efforts in Afghanistan.

Obama was embarking on perhaps the easiest leg of his whirlwind four-country Asian trip that has taken him away from Washington for the longest stretch of his presidency.

He made brief stops in Tokyo and Singapore before a longer, ceremony-filled visit to China.

Strongly pro-U.S., Lee took office in South Korea in early 2008, a year before Obama, and relations between the two countries have been improving. The tenure of President George W. Bush had seen anti-American sentiments become more common here.

Not so much now. The South Korean president, for instance, was the first foreign leader in Obama's presidency to get the honor of a joint appearance in the Rose Garden, in June.

"I hope to look at it as growing pains of a relationship maturing," said Lee Jung-hoon, an international relations expert and dean of Yonsei University in Seoul. "Certainly under Lee Myung-bak and Obama we are returning to normalcy."

A remaining sticking point has been trade. To South Korea's dismay, a free trade agreement that was signed in 2007 by the two governments under previous leaders has been stalled ever since in Congress.

The pact was already going nowhere on Democratic-run Capitol Hill during the Bush administration, which struck the deal after painstaking negotiations. Obama's election, with his concerns about U.S. access to the South Korean market for U.S. auto exports, put the deal in further doubt.

After his talks, Obama then has a brief rally at Osan Air Base outside Seoul with some of the 28,500 U.S. troops who are stationed in South Korea. It will be the third time Obama has addressed U.S. troops with his decision still pending on how many more Americans to send into the Afghanistan war.

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