By Diplomacy Journal Lee Jon-young
President Yoon Suk-yeol and First Lady Kim Keon-hee, who are on an official visit to the Czech Republic, hosted a dinner meeting with about 80 Korean compatriots in Prague on Sept. 20.
The President said that he was particularly pleased and honored to meet with Korean compatriots right after the Chuseok, noting that the Czech Republic is a country of history and tradition with a beautiful cultural heritage of medieval Europe, and is an important ally that has developed friendly and cooperative relations based on common values such as freedom, human rights, and the rule of law since the establishment of diplomatic relations with Korea in 1990.
The President said he is proud that the Korean community has developed steadily in the short 30 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, demonstrating a warm community spirit by holding a rice distribution event for compatriots in need during the coronavirus pandemic and donating masks to the Czech community.
The President said that the exemplary behavior of the Korean community has spread positive perceptions of Korea among the Czech people and strengthened the ties and friendship between the two countries.
The President introduced that Team Korea was selected as the preferred bidder for the construction of the Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant in the Czech Republic in July, providing a bridgehead for Korea to restore the domestic nuclear ecosystem and actively enter the global nuclear power market, and vowed to do his utmost to ensure the successful conclusion of the final contract with the Czech Republic.
During his visit to the Czech Republic, the President met with high-ranking Czech officials and explained that the two countries have decided to dramatically develop their strategic partnership based on nuclear power cooperation and expand the horizons of cooperation to include high-tech industry, science and technology, energy, and infrastructure, saying that such expanded bilateral cooperation will provide greater growth opportunities for the Korean community.
The President said that he would continue to closely connect the Korean diaspora with their home countries by providing more systematic support for their activities in the region, and that he expects them to help Korea expand its diplomatic horizons and economic territory as a global center.
Afterward, the participants introduced the current status of the Czech diaspora and shared their experiences in the Czech Republic.
Delivering welcome speech, Kim Myung-hee, President of the Korean Association in the Czech Republic, said that the community, which has been systematically formed since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1990, has grown to more than 3,000 members and is steadily developing by contributing to the spread of K-culture in the Czech Republic and striving to educate the next generation of compatriots.
In addition, Kim said that the selection of Korea's KHNP as the preferred bidder for the new nuclear power plant project in Dukovany, Czech Republic, is a great achievement of Korea's economic and security diplomacy and an important opportunity for the Czech Republic to recognize Korea's superior technology and reliability.
In his toast, Kim Man-seok, a member of the Advisory Council for Democracy and Peace, who served as the first president of the Korean Association in the Czech Republic, said that economic cooperation, people-to-people exchanges, and intergovernmental cooperation between the Republic of Korea and the Czech Republic have been steadily strengthening, and that the selection of the preferred bidder for the new nuclear power plant project in the Czech Republic is an important step in the development of bilateral relations, and proposed a toast to the development of Korea-Czech relations and the successful conclusion of the President and his wife's visit to the Czech Republic.
