2007.6.17

Republic of Korea’s Ambassador to Poland Si-hyung Lee talks withFilip Frackowiak 

How would you describerelations between Korea and Poland?

Diplomaticrelations between our countries were established in 1989. Although ourbilateral relations are still at a young stage, it has been a satisfactory 18years. We have exchanged high-level officials. In 2004, we had a visit of theKorean president, and in 2002 the Polish president at the time, AleksanderKwasniewski, visited our country. I am expecting that current President LechKaczynski also visits Koreathis year or next. Polandis among our top 30 trading partners worldwide. And we have many cultural andstudent exchanges. In every sense, our bilateral relations are growing quickly,and I expect further fast development in the future.

Historically, have ourtwo countries had many shared features?

Inthe history of our countries, we can find many aspects that we have had incommon. Poland is in theheart of Europe surrounded by big and powerfulneighbors. Koreais surrounded by powerful nations on the continent and across the sea as well.So we had a long history of registing against those neighbors, who wanted toswallow our tiny state. Koreais one of the most peace-loving countries in the world, but we had to keepfighting to save our identity and continuity, which I believe is understandableto the Polish people. History allowed us common understanding of each other.

Korea is one of the most important investors in Poland. Whatare Korea’s investment plansin Poland?Is it something more than electronics?

Generally,Korean investment is based on the business activity of individual privatecompanies. Although Korea,as a country, doesn’t have either a plan or a strategy to promote specificbusiness sectors in Poland,there are some sectors of business in which Korea is world leader – the ITbusiness, the automotive sector and shipbuilding, ect. Korean investment in Poland, such asLG Electronics, LG Philips LCD, Samsung Electronics and Daewoo Electronics aregood examples of these sectors. There are about 25 Korean companies producingmanufactured goods in Polandand another 27 companies represented in Poland for sales and R&Dpurpose.

The trade balancebetween our countries is favorable for Korea. Do Polish businesses enjoyany form of preferential treatment in investments in your country?

Koreaninvestors are offered many advantages and privileges by the Polish governmentin special economic zones. In Korea,we also have special economic zones. We offer foreign investors, including thosefrom Poland,tax breaks and direct money transfers. Korea is also trying very hard tohost foreign investment. We are not as successful as Polandrecently, but statistics show that foreign investment into Korea is growing.In Korea,the biggest problem is expensive land because of very limited territory. Mostof the country, about 70 percent of its territory, is covered with mountains.This is the reason why land price for factory is so high in Korea. We areworking hard to compliment this situation by offering good terms. If there areany specific wishes from Polish companies we can discuss them.

What is Korea’s position on the defense policy in thePacific region, including military policy changes in Japanand the future of Taiwan’sindependence?

ForKoreans, when we think about security issues, North Korea issue always comes first.That issue is the core of a security problem, not only on the Korean Peninsulabut in the whole East Asia and at the sametime globally. Peaceful resolution of North Korean nuclear issue is the mostimportant one, for which both Koreas,USA, China, Russiaand Japanhave been working hard. Another issue is the rearmament of Japan. There isa strong movement in Japanto change the constitution and allow the country to build a regular army. Thearmament of Japanwould trigger a serious arms race among the countries in the region. Arms race couldbe triggered either by North Korea’snuclear weaponry or Japanese rearmament or China’s big appetite. Korea, Japanand the United Stateshave had a very strong alliance for decades, and we need to continue closedialogue to keep up this relationship. When it comes to Taiwan issue, I can only say that I hope China and Taiwan resolve all the issues betweenthemselves in a peaceful manner.

About 30,000 Americansoldiers are stationed in the Republic of Korea. Their presencehas been a part of Korea’ssecurity system for over 50 years. What would you say to Poles who are againstbuilding a part of the American missile defense system in Poland?

Incase of Korea,the U.S. Army has been stationing since the World War II. During the KoreanWar, the U.S. forces led themilitary forces of 15 countries under the auspices of the United Nations tofight back the North Korea’sinvasion. Through our experience, I am sure that the presence of American anti-missiledefense system in Polish territory would reinforce not only the capabilities ofthe U.S. forces, but alsothose of Poland and otherparts of Europe. But at the same time, unlike Korea, it is true that Poland does nothave an imminent threat. Both arguments, for and against the MD system, seem tohave reasonable basis respectively and worthy of deeper analyses.

How many tourists from Korea travel to Poland every year?

In2006, some 53,000 Koreans spent at least one night in Poland. Notenough, but the number has increased from 39,000 of 2005. Poland is veryattractive to foreign tourists. We expect that the number will be even higherin the years to come – especially thanks to young Korean visitors.

How would you encouragetravel agencies to organize vacations for Polish tourists in Korea?

Korea is about 11hours flight away from Poland– not too far away to visit. To have more Poles visit Korea, I would like to provide more informationabout Koreato the Polish people. We are planning to establish a KoreaCultural Centerin Warsaw to offer a better opportunity to understandKorea.