The world is still under the pressure of the dramatic fight with Covid-19 pandemic. Lockdowns, facial masks, infection statistics, vaccination campaigns have become our everyday companions, but life evidently wants to live, and it is especially true for international relations. Fortunately, diplomats are tireless and they are busy doing hard work. The new South Korean Ambassador, who recently arrived in Hungary, His Excellency, Mr. Ambassador Park Chul-min kindly spared some time in his busy schedule for giving an exclusive online interview for the ’Korea in Hungary’ blog.
Q: First of all, on behalf of the readers of the official blog of the Korean Cultural Center in Budapest, let me express our sincere gratitude to Your Excellency for providing an opportunity to make this interview happen. Please, receive our heartfelt congratulations on the occasion of the presentation of your Credentials! Your Excellency have been in Hungary for about 100 days, which is not a long period of time. Can You please, share with us what has happened so far, and what Your Excellency’s first impressions are about Hungary and Budapest?
H. E. Park Chul-min: Welcome, Everyone! Yes, you are right, officially I submitted my Letter of Credence to your President of the Republic, H.E. Mr. János Áder on January 20, 2021. Since then the days have flown so fast and I am excited that there will be many things to do!
My first impressions? Above all, let me underline that I am really very much satisfied with my settlement, both in terms of place and safety. And now that the sun is shining, it’ll be even better. You know, my previous ambassadorial post was in Portugal, where the weather was much better at this time... but I already feel springtime coming here too. Also, what I like here is the clear blue skyline, the fresher and clearer air, which is different from what I experienced in Seoul when I left.
I submitted my Letter of Credentials at your Presidential Office with some other fellow Ambassadors in the middle of the corona-virus situation, but your government provided a really excellent opportunity for this occasion, and the organization was fantastic. This event really touched my soul - not only in my capacity as Ambassador but also as a Korean citizen - and it will remain one of the most significant and touching moments of my life.
Now, about my most important meetings up to now:
Until this day, I’ve met with Mr. Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade twice in person, but I am sure we will meet again several times in the future. At first, he invited me to an investment ceremony and press conference related to the latest and biggest green plant investment in Hungary, which is to be implemented by one of the most important South-Korean companies in Hungary, SK Innovation. The second occasion when I met Minister Szijjártó was a formal meeting, which we call in international diplomacy a courtesy call. But we were not just sitting around a simple table chatting... in reality, it was a truly intense and deep discussion for 35 minutes.
I also had very meaningful meetings - among others - with Mr. Róbert Ésik, President of HIPA (Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency), with Mr. Zsolt Németh, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Hungarian Parliament, and also with Mr. L. Simon László, Chairman of the Hungary-Korea Interparliamentary Friendship Group (IPU). And, naturally, I’ve met several leaders of Korean companies present in Hungary, as well as the members of the Korean Chamber of Commerce. And many fellow Ambassadors, who arrived earlier than me, have also shared their time and wisdom.
I may say that the first phase of my settlement in your country has been quite amazing and very busy!
Q: Our people, just like Koreans, are of curious nature. May I ask Your Excellency to speak about Your career, about the way Your Excellency have been assigned here? In the capacity of a top-ranking diplomat of the Republic of Korea, with what kind of mission goals have you arrived in Budapest?
H. E. Park Chul-min: When I was very young, I had my dreams, just like anybody else of my age. You know, first I wanted to become a lawyer. Then I wanted to be one of those heroes of the skies, an aircraft pilot. And when I was a middle-school student, I saw a very popular Korean TV drama of that time, in which one of the protagonists was a diplomat, and this character had a great impact on me. So I asked my parents what I should do and where I should study to be a diplomat. Later, at university, I attended a special faculty called Faculty of International Relations at the Seoul National University, and from that moment I pushed myself hard to make my dreams come true. Finally, I got my diploma of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy in March 1989. Since that year I’ve been in the service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea. I also had the opportunity to study for a Master’s degree in the United States. My first overseas post was in the Hague in the Netherlands, where I was involved mainly in international disarmament affairs. My further diplomatic posts included - among others - Moscow, and New York. Later I was given the post of Director General of European Affairs, and I got assigned as Ambassador for the first time to Lisbon, Portugal. And now I’ve arrived here in Budapest as the Ambassador of my homeland, with three important mission goals.
My first and most important mission is to strengthen our diplomatic relations, that is, to put them on a higher level. Don’t misunderstand this, these relations are already excellent. Your Prime Minister, Mr. Orbán made a diplomatic visit to South Korea earlier, and your Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Mr. Szijjártó also visited Korea twice in two years. Also, our Minister of Foreign Affairs came to Budapest in 2019. It is my highest priority goal to organize our President’s and high ranking politicians’ visit to Hungary as our countries are not only political but also strategic partners.
Q: When you’re speaking of strategic partnership, do Your Excellency mean economic-strategic cooperation between our countries? It’s been agreed by many that these relations are at their best now.
H. E. Park Chul-min: Exactly! One may say that this cooperation has never been as good as nowadays. There are 240 Korean companies in Hungary, the cumulative volume of Korean investments shows a more than 100 % increase in a two-year time period, and Korean companies provide about 12,000 jobs for Hungarian people even in these difficult times, and with the new investment projects it will be definitely higher. We are among the five biggest investors in your country; and the number of Koreans living here is rising too, it has reached 4,500. Among others, we have had big Korean companies like Samsung Electronics, Hankook Tire for a long time here, and in 2017 and 2018 Samsung SDI and SK Innovation also entered. This is fascinating and a great achievment. However, in diplomacy, and also in business, you may never say that we are at the peak or we have reached the top, because after the peak of a mountain usually downhill comes! I firmly believe, this is not the case with us ... On the contrary, we will climb higher and higher!
Take, for example, SK Innovation, which will bring to Hungary a new, 2.1 billion EUR e-battery plant, which will be the country’s biggest ever greenfield investment to date. SK Innovation is South Korea’s largest energy and chemicals company and one of the world’s leading e-battery manufacturers. In addition to the current plant at Komárom, the development at Iváncsa will create another 2,500 jobs.
Smaller in volume but also significant in its profile is Samyang Biopharm, which I must mention here because Samyang will establish a medical device plant for the production of biodegradable surgical suture with an investment of HUF 8.6 billion. This plant will be the first one in Europe for Samyang Group’s medical device manufacturing division and one of the largest Korean pharmaceutical investments in Hungary. I am also looking forward to the great and mutual successes of Celltrion, which has been in brisk operation since 2010 in the medical and pharmaceutical fields. Therefore, I must say we have a great prospect. Accordingly, I will be firmly dedicated to my second mission goal, which is to improve our already very good economic cooperation. I do believe, these efforts will be mutually beneficial, and we will also contribute to the further development of Hungary’s expertise and economy.
And here we go with the third mission goal of mine, which is related to culture and education. I’ve already made a visit to the new Korean Cultural Center, and I got fascinated. This institute is among the best Korean Cultural Centers in the world, both in terms of size and functionality. Of course, I have some ideas which I’ve discussed with the new director. We have many great plans in mind but first we have to overcome the corona pandemic and then we can realize these projects. Concerning education, I’ve mentioned already that the size of the Korean community here is about 4,500 people, which is rising constantly. Out of them there are around 800 students who study at different Hungarian universities, most of them are attending medical and pharmaceutical departments. It’s amazing.
Q: I hope, they like studying here and they are enjoying living in our country. Unfortunately, nowadays the Covid-19 pandemic doesn’t help students to get the real student-life feeling. The world, Europe, so Hungary too, are desperately struggling with this situation, while South Korea seems to handle it more easily. May I ask Your Excellency to speak about the specific „Korean way” of handling the pandemic, which has been and still is quite successful?
H. E. Park Chul-min: First, I think that our strategy to handle the pandemic is not just based on lockdowns; instead, from the very beginning it has been a kind of united and common effort both from the part of the government and the Korean people. And sure, it has demanded sacrifices from all of us as it was based on an overall discipline. From the very first day the government has been focusing on prevention and keeping the number of infections under control. This is number one. Then we’ve introduced principles of openness, transparency and democracy. We have been applying a very strict policy based on three key elements: testing, tracing and treatment. We’ve paid special attention to tracing, for instance, by using a special app on people’s mobiles, by isolating the infected, and trying to keep the number of serious cases, needing intensive hospital care, within our medical capacity. That has been crucial. Before I came here, I heard that if the number of serious infections exceeds 1,000/day for two consecutive weeks or longer, then our medical system might collapse. We’ve been through with the third wave, and each time we managed to keep that number under control. So far so good.
However, we are late in the vaccination process, which was started from February 26. Now we are proceeding with it, and our target month is November. By that date we want 70% of our population to get inoculated in order to reach herd immunity. Our population is 52 million, and we’ve already secured enough vaccines.
Q: Excellency, could you reveal some details how the vaccination of the Korean community, including the staff at your Embassy, will be solved in Hungary?
H. E. Park Chul-min: Vaccination will be provided for us and also for our family members by your government. We’ve submitted the list with the names of those Koreans who are willing to be inoculated, and we are waiting for our turn patiently, like anybody else here in your country.
Q: Let’s hope, we will get over these hard times soon, and life comes back to its normal way. Though it’s not the time of opening yet, have you had a chance to try any special Hungarian dish or food?
H.E. Park Chul-min: Oh, yes! I have tried goulash, then your lángos, and this nice Christmas speciality, the chimney cake, kürtős kalács! I ate and enjoyed them all! Of course, I had to enjoy them at home, but next time I want to go out to a nice restaurant and enjoy your food there – hopefully, in the very near future.
Q: Excellency, I’d like to thank You very much once again for your precious time You’ve saved for us. Let me wish you all the best and great success in your diplomatic activities and in your personal life.
And finally, what is Your Excellency’s message to the Hungarian fans of Korea, Korean culture and to the readers of the ’Korea in Hungary’ blog?
H. E. Park Chul-min: Let me tell you what I’ve experienced so far here. Wherever I went, whomever I met, your people are all truehearted, hardworking, ambitious, dynamic, cordial but at the same time humble and good-mannered people. I am not just doing lip service now, I do mean this, it is coming from my heart. You, Hungarian people have bright future! Even if we are in a very hard situation now, one day it will be over. So my message to you is the following: Think positive, stay healthy, and go together! Korea and Hungary, go forward hand in hand together!
The interview was done on April 6, 2021 in Budapest
Reporter: Edit Csajka
Source of pics: overseas.mofa.go.kr, Korean Cultural Center
