Park has good reason to attend Sept 3 parade

The Republic of Korea is likely to announce in a few days whether ROK President Park Geun-hye will attend a grand military parade in Beijing on Sept 3 to observe the 70th anniversary of the victory of Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.

Just a week ago, Japan's Kyodo News reported that the United States has, through diplomatic channels, asked Park not to attend the event, although the report was later denied both by Park's spokesman Min Kyung-wook and the US State Department.

Without Washington's diplomatic "intervention", however, attending the event would be the most natural decision of Park, given the improving strategic partnership between the ROK and China. In fact, the two countries have a lot in common when it comes to their history of fighting Japanese aggression before and during World War II.