On March 22, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic of Korea Yu Myung-hwan received Jiří Dienstbier, head of the Czech Senate's Committee on Foreign and Security Policy visiting the Republic of Korea in his capacity as special envoy of the Czech Foreign Minister. Senator Jiří Dienstbier brought a congratulatory message from Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister Jan Kohout on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of establishiment of the diplomatic relations between the Republic of Korea and then Czechoslovakia. The meeting took place exactly twenty years since Jiří Dienstbier – then Czechoslovak Foreign Minister – himself signed the protocol on establishemt of the diplomatic relations.

Senator Dienstbier has also met Lee Yoon-sung, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly and his parliamentary counterpart Park Jin. Later he officially opened the exhibition „Story of Czech-Korean Contacts“ in Czech Info Center in Seoul and awarded the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs´ medals for promotion of a good name of the Czech Republic to the first RoK´s ambassador to Prague Sun Jung-young and the founding-fathers of Korean Czech and Slovak studies prof. Kwon Jae-il and prof. Kim Kyuchin. He has also met with their students in Yongin

Senator Dienstbier has also paid a visit to Swiss and Swedish members of Neutral Nations Supervisory Commision in Panmunjeom in Demilitarized Zone still dividing both Koreas, where – until 1993 – also Czechoslovak members were based, until being expelled by North Korea.

The congratulatory letters were also exchanged between President of the Republic of Korea Lee Myung-bak and his counterpart, President of the Czech Republic Václav Klaus. President Lee noted with satisfaction the steady development of Korea-Czech relations in a wide range of fields, including government affairs, economy and culture, since the forging of diplomatic ties. In addition to a request for Czech Republic’s interest in and support for various events slated to take place this year in commemoration of the diplomatic anniversary, President Lee asked for the Czech government’s cooperation in expediting the signing and effectuation of the Korea-EU FTA and Framework Agreement for Trade and Cooperation. Offering congratulations on the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations, President Klaus expressed 

satisfaction with close cooperation between Korea and Czech in government affairs, economy and various other sectors, and hoped for further development of mutually beneficial, friendly and cooperative ties.

Media coverage of special envoy´s visit:

The Korea Times (in English)

The Korea Herald (in English)

JoongAng Ilbo Sunday (in Korean)

Hankuk Ilbo (in Korean)