Embassy of the Republic of Korea to Norway
– February 2018
Dear Reader,
In News from Korea this month, we present the following articles:
The President and the Prime Minister of Norway Hold Summit
Prime Minister Erna Solberg in Korea
Norway Topped The PyeongChang Medal Standings
PyeongChang Ends Biggest Winter Games Ever
PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games Article in VG
Norwegian-Korean Friendship Association’s Korean Social Event
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The President and the Prime Minister of Norway Hold Summit
Cheong Wa Dae reported the meeting with Prime Minister of Norway Erna Solberg on February 15.
“President Moon Jae-in and Prime Minister of Norway Erna Solberg held a summit at Cheong Wa Dae this afternoon. The two leaders discussed how to enhance substantive cooperation between the two nations and the situation on the Korean Peninsula.
President Moon expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Solberg for visiting Korea together with Crown Prince of Norway Haakon Magnus and many other royal family members who graced us with their presence at the PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games.
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Wishing Team Norway, a powerhouse in cross-country and alpine skiing, the best of luck at this Olympics, President Moon also extended congratulations on the team`s great performance so far. The President went on to say that he had heard that the Norwegian people were born wearing skis and that it seemed to be true. Mentioning South Korean cross-country skiing team member Kim Magnus, who was born to a Norwegian father and South Korean mother, President Moon expressed the hope that the two countries would be able to cultivate closer ties.
Prime Minister Solberg gave a high evaluation of the shared progress the two countries have achieved so far through cooperation in the shipbuilding and maritime industries and expressed her expectations for such cooperation in other areas such as information and communications technology and the green growth industry. In reply, President Moon explained Korea`s "Renewable Energy 3020" implementation plan, through which the nation aims to increase the renewable energy`s share of the energy mix to 20
percent by 2030. In this connection, the President added he looked forward to the strengthening of cooperation in green growth.
President Moon expressed his gratitude to Norway for actively backing the Korean Government’s North Korea policy. Then, the President asked for support from the international community to ensure that the inter-Korean talks made possible by North Korea’s participation in the PyeongChang Olympics would lead to a dialogue between the North and the United States.
Prime Minister Solberg asked for Korea’s active participation in activities related to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). President Moon answered that the Korean Government was making endeavors to establish a more organized system to implement the SDGs in Korea through its push for a major paradigm shift toward a people-centered economy.
The two leaders gave high marks to the fact that the two countries have continuously developed mutually beneficial and close, friendly and cooperative relations over the past
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59 years since diplomatic ties were established in 1959. They also noted that this summit was an opportunity to have an extensive discussion on directions for the future development of bilateral relations.
Prime Minister Solberg said next year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Saying it would be a great pleasure for President Moon to visit Norway for its commemoration, the Prime Minister added she wanted to use this opportunity to invite the President. The Prime Minister went on to say that if he could visit Norway, the cooperative relations between the two countries would be strengthened, asking for the President’s visit at the earliest date possible.
There was an exchange of gifts at the summit today. Prime Minister Solberg presented a soccer ball printed with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. In return, President Moon gave a semitransparent, white porcelain cup produced in commemoration of the PyeongChang Olympics. It portrays winter in Gangwon-do Province.”
For original briefing, see CheongWaDae
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Prime Minister Erna Solberg in Korea
Photo credit by Yonhapnews
After the summit with President Moon Jae-in, Prime Minister of Norway Erna Solberg visited the Gwanghwamun Plaza to introduce Norwegian culture and seafood. She mentioned that she is very impressed by the increased exports of seafood to Korea in last five years.
The Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC) and Innovation Norway had jointly introduced famous seafood from Norway such as mackerel, salmon, and king crab by February 25.
Minister of Culture of Norway Trine Skei Grande came together with the Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Solberg also visited the Moosan community child center in Gangwondo to introduce the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for children. She presented 80 soccer balls designed with the 17 goals of the SDGs.
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Norway Topped the PyeongChang Medal Standings
Norway topped the PyeongChang medal standings with 14 gold, 14 silver and 11
bronze medals, for a total of 39 medals. Norway’s final medal tally breaks the record for a single nation at a Winter Olympics set by the U.S. at Vancouver in 2010. In addition, it is their 8thtime topping the medal count in the history of the Winter Olympic Games having managed the same feat in 1924, 1928, 1936, 1952, 1968, and 2002.Norway’s Olympic success is very impressive considering the team size. They sent just 109 athletes. Meanwhile, the Republic of Korea won atotal of 17 medals and took 7thplace.
For more information about Medal Standing, see PyeongChang2018
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PyeongChang Ends Biggest Winter Games Ever
The PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games have come to an end after 17 days of heated competition on ice and snow. The Closing Ceremony was held at the
PyeongChang Olympic Stadium on February 25. More than 2,900 athletes from 92 countries, which was the highest number in the history of the Winter Games competed for 102 gold medals. The PyeongChang 2018 Winter Games were overall highly praised for their management, performances, and Olympic records. It showed plenty of cultural programs and high-tech innovations such as 5G wireless networks, robots, AI, and drones. Moreover, IOC President Bach pointed out the joint march of the two Koreas and unified ice hockey team. He said that PyeongChang was able to realize an
“Olympics of Peace” and send a powerful message to the whole world.
For original article, see korea.net
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PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games Article in VG
Sokkwang Hong, Counsellor and Chargé d’affaires at the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Norway published an article on PyeongChang 2018 in VG on February 9, which was the opening day of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games.
"New Horizons for South Korea:
The Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang is at hand. South Korea is ready to implement a successful event for the benefit of all nations and that promotes Peace beyond safety and peace on the Korean peninsula and in the world.
PyeongChang 2018 will be the biggest Winter Olympic Games yet. As many as 95 countries are attending, the largest number since the Games began 94 years ago, and over 50 000 guests and 2 900 athletes are expected. In addition: the audience.
In 2018 it is 30 years since the Summer Olympics in Seoul in 1988. This was a unique opportunity for South Korea to redefine their role: From being dependent on emergency aid, the country now experienced a successful economic growth that has often been referred to as the miracle on the river Han. It also brought the two sides of the Cold War together, for the benefit of peace and sportsmanship.
Pyeongchang is now ready and well prepared for strong competition between the best athletes in the World. Out of twelve competition arenas and three others, six are newly renovated and seven are completely new. All the arenas can be reached within half an hour by car from the official sleeping quarters.
In addition, the building of the new high speed railway (KTX) from Incheon International Airport to the Pyeongchang Mountain Cluster has reduced the travelling time to 135 minutes and the travelling time from Seoul to Pyeongchang has been reduced to 80 minutes. PyeongChang 2018 will also offer 5G internet, pioneering holograms, IoT-
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services (Internet of Things) and other innovations that have never before been seen in the Olympic Games.
The slogan Passion. Connected. refers to a world where everyone is connected through their shared passion for winter sports, a world that is open to all generations, regardless of time and place and that opens up new horizons for further development of winter sport.
Norway is well known in South Korea as a welfare state, world champion in ski and as a peacebuilding nation. However, few in Norway knows that Norway even today are hailed for the help Norwegians provided for the Koreans during the Korean War (1950- 1953). Norway contributed with what was called the Norwegian Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, abbreviated NORMASH. 623 Norwegians were sent to South Korea during the war and helped over 90 000 patients in these field hospitals.
The Republic of Korea and the Kingdom of Norway established diplomatic relations in 1959. Since then, the economic and cultural relationship has been continually
strengthened. After the Korean War, 6 497 South Korean children were adopted to Norway and had the chance to start a new life with a new family. In the year 2000 the then President of South Korea Kim Dae-jung for his sunshine politics that were meant to lay the foundation for a peaceful reconciliation.
In September 2006, Norway and Korea entered into a free trade agreement through EFTA. Since then, the trade has increased to 5,2 billion dollars in 2016. For Norway, the biggest export has been maritime equipment, maritime services and seafood. In
January 2017, Korea was Norway’s fourth biggest export market, after the EU, USA and China. In return, Korea has exported ships, maritime platforms, cars and electronic goods to Norway. Samsung and Hyundai is just two examples of brands that Norwegians know well.
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The last year, 17 600 Norwegians have travelled to South Korea while around 35 000 Koreans have visited Norway. Korean tourists want to see the Norwegian fjords and the northern lights, while Norwegians has an increased enjoyment of Korean food, K-pop and Korean movies.
Most people know that North Korea recently has performed nuclear tests and launched long distance missiles. This has led to increased tension on the Korean peninsula and in East Asia. Security has the highest priority during the Olympics and the International Olympic Committee has confirmed that South Korea is more than prepared to host a safe Olympics. South Korea also look forward to welcoming their neighbors in North Korea to PyeongChang 2018. Once again, we see the peace-making role of the Olympic Games.
The Olympic Games in Pyeongchang is a new chapter in the history of the Olympic Games and a unique opportunity to highlight the values that the Olympic Games promotes in Asia. And this is just the beginning of a number of Olympic events in Asia:
In 2020, the torch will be carried on to the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and then to Beijing again for the winter Olympics in 2022.
Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang is another opportunity for South Korea and Norway to strengthen the friendship between the two countries, and the Korean people look
forward to welcoming the talented Norwegian athletes.
We look forward to seeing what the Norwegian athletes can do and wish them the best of luck in this year’s games!”
(Unofficial Translation from Norwegian)
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Norwegian- Korean Friendship Association’s Korean Social Event
The Norwegian-Korean Friendship Association (Norsk-Koreansk Vennskapsforening) hosted a Korean Social Event on the 10th of February at Filmkafeen in Oslo with the participation of about 110 association members and their families and with plenty of Korean food. Counsellor and Chargé d’affaires Sokkwang Hong and his colleague from the Korean Embassy also joined the event and wished that the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games will enhance relations between Norway and Korea.
