File photo taken on Oct. 2, 2007 shows the memorial stone monument of the 2007 summit of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and South Korea placed in front of the gates of the southern Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in Paju. The military of the DPRK was authorized to cut off all land borders with South Korea from December, the official KCNA news agency reported on Nov. 12, 2008. (Xinhua/Li Chengyu) Photo Gallery>>>

    By Xinhua Writer Li Zhengyu

    SEOUL, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- The outgoing 2008 was a year of transition for South Korea. Following the inauguration of President Lee Myung-bak in late February and an overwhelming victory of Lee's ruling Grand National Party at the parliament elections in April, South Korea shifted its diplomacy to a "global" strategy.

    An important player in regional affairs and the world's 13th economy, South Korea's new foreign policy has succeeded in improving its ties with Washington and Tokyo as well as acquiring more overseas resources. However, Seoul's hardline policy against Pyongyang caused increasing tensions on the Korean peninsula, potential threat to regional stability.

    IMPROVEMENT IN ALLIANCE WITH U.S., JAPAN

    Lee gave priority to improving the relations with the United States and made intensive efforts to enhance cooperation with Washington after he took office in February.

    In mid-April, Lee set for the United States as his first destination of overseas visits and held summit meeting with his U.S. counterpart George W. Bush. The two leaders reached consensus on upgrading the bilateral ties to "strategic alliance" and agreed on taking coordinated stances over the nuclear issues on the Korean Peninsula.

    The move contrasted with situation in the past decade when South Korea and the United States differed on the policy vis-a-visthe Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). Seoul adopted a reconciliation policy to Pyongyang while the Bush administration took a hardline policy.

    Following the April summit, South Korea actively coordinated with the United States in terms of international affairs, making efforts to enhance their military alliance. The strengthening of the South Korean-U.S. ties saw new progress in bilateral relations: last month, the U.S. visa waiver bill for South Koreans took effect. The U.S. parliament also approved to upgrade South Korea's foreign military sales status to the same level as NATO members in November.

    However, the pro-U.S. policy triggered political unrest in South Korea. From May to early August, massive protests against resumption of U.S. beef imports broke out throughout the country, bringing down Lee's approval rate.

    Lee's pro-U.S. diplomacy met another setback when both the South Korean and the U.S. parliaments failed to approve South Korean-U.S. free trade agreement. South Korean analysts worried that the incoming Barack Obama's administration will take a harsher stance over the FTA deal as the Democratic Party has clearly expressed dissatisfaction over auto-related clauses of the deal.

    In an effort to repair the strained ties between Seoul and Tokyo, Lee resumed shuttle diplomacy with Japan by conducting state visit to Tokyo in late April. During Lee's summit meeting with the then Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda in Tokyo, the two leaders agreed to upgrade the bilateral ties to a Matured Partnership and push forward a series of bilateral cooperation.

    The relationship between South Korea and Japan once deteriorated in July when Japan claimed sovereignty over the disputed islets of Dokdo, Takeshima in Japan, in the Sea of Japan. However, the overall relationship between the two neighbors was better than before thanks to closer economic and people-to-people exchanges.

    The trilateral summit meeting of China, Japan and South Korea on Dec. 13 in Japan's Fukuoka provided a new opportunity for South Korea and Japan to seek joint efforts against the global financial crisis and boost their mutual trust.