Tour produces no big breakthroughs

Wrapping up his trip with warm talks in South Korea, he said he'll send envoy to North. His story connected with ordinary citizens but may have had limits with Asian leaders.

By NEWS SERVICES

Last update: November 18, 2009 - 11:03 PM

After taking his message as the "first Pacific president" through four countries in eight days, President Obama wrapped up his tour of Asia today with talks with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and a planned visit to U.S. troops stationed in the shadow of nuclear-armed North Korea.

Obama was treated to an elaborate welcome, joining Lee 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. He said, "This was the most spectacular ceremony for a state visit we have been involved with."

Said Lee: "You saved the best for last."

During a joint news conference, Lee said he and Obama have agreed to offer North Korea a "grand bargain" -- a package of political and economic incentives -- aimed at ending the North's nuclear program.

And Obama said envoy Stephen Bosworth will travel to Pyongyang on Dec. 8 for the first bilateral talks with the Communist regime since he took office.

Addressing the only potential point of contention with the strong U.S. ally, Obama said he is committed to resolving issues that have stalled a free trade agreement.

It was the final stop -- and the perhaps the easiest -- on a trip that has notably lacked concrete achievements but has seen Obama's personal narrative on display, as he reminisced about the ice cream he ate during a childhood visit to Japan and recalled his mother's work in Southeast Asia. Obama appeared as popular as ever among ordinary citizens, but is his biography-as-diplomacy approach beginning to show its limits?

Obama does not fly home with any big breakthroughs. Even at the ground level, there was no Asian equivalent of the Cairo speech -- when he spoke to the Muslim world, invoking his father's Islamic heritage, in an effort to connect with a population that had previously felt disrespected by U.S. leaders.

Asia provides far less fertile ground for Obama's multiethnic biographical message than the United States. As a continent, Asia is hugely diverse, but its individual countries tend to be far more ethnically homogeneous, and often wary of diversity.

John Park, a specialist at the U.S. Institute of Peace, said that Asians also look at people through the lens of economic development. "They like CEO types," he said. "In Europe, personality and the spoken word are at much more of a premium. In Asia, it is all about track record. No one has written President Obama off, but people are looking very carefully at what he'll achieve."

The Washington Post and AP contributed to this report.

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