South Korean, South African relations deepen
AS SOUTH Korean President Moon Jae-in joined the Group of Seven (G7) summit as a guest this weekend, the country’s ambassador to South Africa, Chull-joo Park answered some questions posed by Independent Media
SOUTH Korea’s ambassador to South Africa, Chull-joo Park has welcomed the inclusion of his country, along with South Africa, as a guest nation to the G7 Summit, and believes the meeting can contribute to finding a common solution to global challenges, including the unprecedented economic and health crisis caused by the global pandemic and climate change.
“The Republic of Korea will play a contributing role at the G7 Summit in ensuring equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines, supporting climate response and girls’ education in developing countries, and promoting our shared values which underpin open societies,” Park told Independent Media ahead of the weekend meeting in England.
Asked how he saw South Korean relations with the US, a G7 member, under the Joe Biden administration, he said President Moon Jae-in had undertaken an official working visit to the US last month, and he foresaw many more areas in which the two governments could work together in fields such as “regional peace and security, the peace process on the Korean Peninsula, and economic co-operation, including vaccine production and IT equipment”.
Turning to the relationship with China, which is not part of the G7, he said it was not only South Korea’s largest economic trading partner but a partner country in dealing with the issues on the Korean Peninsula.
The Seoul government would, based on a firm and strong South Korea-US relationship, aim to develop mature bilateral relations with China, he said noting common views the two countries share on the importance of their relationship and expectations for its continuous development.
Asked to elaborate on the issues on the Korean Peninsula, he said “a series of key diplomatic accomplishments in recent years, from three rounds of inter-Korean summits to the first US-North Korea summit in Singapore, created a favourable environment for advancing the peace process on the Korean Peninsula.
“However, unfortunately, the second US-North Korea summit in Hanoi in February 2019 ended without tangible outcomes,” Park said.
His government had “spared no efforts to break the deadlock and realise the complete denuclearisation and establishment of permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula” … (and would) “continue to explore any possible ways to advance the peace process”.
Turning to the pandemic, Park said that South Korea had been one of the first countries to be hit by Covid-19 but his government had been countering the spread of the virus without resorting to complete lockdown by pursuing a “systematic response strategy of the 3Ts”: robust testing, rigorous contact tracing and treating those infected at the earliest possible stage.
Looking ahead to the post-Covid world, he said the Korean government was working to develop new growth drivers through the Korean New Deal which would facilitate a digital, greener and more inclusive economy, with investment of $133 billion (R1.8 trillion) and the creation of 1.9 million new jobs by 2025.
“Under the Digital New Deal project, the government plans to increase state investment in building nationwide 5G networks and training professionals in artificial intelligence and the big data industry,” Park said.
It also tackles the transition to a low-carbon and green economy and the P4G (Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030) Seoul Summit would facilitate public-private partnerships and encourage the international community to achieve carbon neutrality (or net-zero) by 2050 – the goal of the Paris Agreement on climate change.
On the social side, South Africa constitutes the second largest provider of English teachers to South Korea while the influence of global Korean Wave including K-Pop, K-Beauty, K-Drama and K-Food has made Korea better known to the people of South Africa, and the rise of Korean drama and movies on Netflix has also contributed.
A new Korean Cultural Centre is due to be opened in Pretoria later this year.