By Kayla Lee

President Yoon Suk-yeol, who is visiting New York to attend the 78th high-level session of the United Nations General Assembly, held a summit with Czech President Petr Pavel on the afternoon of September 18.
 

During the meeting, President Yoon requested the Czech Republic's support for the 2030 Busan World Expo and exchanged views on ways to develop bilateral relations.

President Yoon said that South Korea and the Czech Republic have worked closely together since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1990, sharing universal values such as freedom, human rights, and the rule of law, and look forward to expanding cooperation on international issues such as the Korean Peninsula and Ukraine.

President Yoon asked for President Pavel's interest and support for the participation of Korean companies with world-class technology and competitiveness in the Czech Republic's new nuclear power plant in Dukovany. 

President Yoon also suggested that the two countries explore cooperation in areas that the Czech Republic is focusing on, such as the development of the hydrogen economy and the construction of high-speed railways.

President Pavel said that the two countries have great potential for mutual cooperation as key countries in Northeast and Central Europe, and he hopes to expand cooperation with Korea, especially in the fields of energy, automobiles, and high-speed rail. 

He also said, “The Czech Republic is also rich in lithium resources and we would like to cooperate with Korea in the production of batteries and support the reconstruction of Ukraine.”

Pavel added that the Czech Republic will actively support South Korea's bid for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council in 2024-25, will jointly respond to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, and appreciates President Yoon's leadership in improving relations between South Korea and Japan, the Czech Republic's important partners in Asia.

The two leaders used the meeting as an opportunity to further enhance bilateral exchanges and continue to identify cooperative projects that benefit both economies.