I would like to celebrate the anniversary of The founding of the Republic of Korea with the people and the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Taking this opportunity, I, also, would like to pay my sincere homage toward the leadership of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia — Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, His Royal Highness Crown Prince Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and His Royal Highness Prince Saud Al Faisal – for their continuing support for friendship between Korea and the Kingdom, and extend my sincere greetings to the government and people of the Kingdom. Korea is a small country on the far eastern edge of Asian continent. Although it ranks 109th in the world in terms of land area, Korea is a center of economic activities, culture and arts in Asia. Korea had historical disasters such as colonization and the Korea War (1950-53), but it has achieved amazing economic growth in only one generation, dubbed “The Miracle on the Han River”. Today, Korea is an industrial nation standing tall on the world stage. Its semi-conductor, automobile, shipbuilding, steel making and IT industries have a leading edge in world market. It hosted the 1988 Seoul Olympics and will host the 2018 Pyongchang Winter Olympics. More recently, Korean dramas, movies and music are attracting many audiences in the world, especially in Asian countries, creating what is being called the “Korean Wave.” Korea's new standing in the international community has been together with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. When Korea hosts the G20 Seoul Summit in 2010 and Seoul Nuclear Security Summit, the Kingdom fully supported the summits as a heartfelt friendly country. The two countries established the diplomatic relations in 1962. Since then, the ties of friendship and cooperation have been strengthened continuously year after year. In particular, the mutual visits of highest level leaders from both countries strengthened the foundation for such a strong relationship. The then Crown Prince Abdullah visited Korea in 1998 and the late Korean President Roh Moo-hyun visited the Kingdom in 2007. In February this year, His Excellency President Lee Myung-bak visited the Kingdom to attend the opening Ceremony of the 27th National Festival for Heritage and Culture in Janadriyah, together with King Abdullah. During the period of the economic boom in Saudi Arabia in the last century, hundreds of thousands of Korean construction workers collaborated with Saudi nationals to build various infrastructure and many landmark buildings of the Kingdom. At present, there are more than 100 companies engaged in the implementation of many important projects such as petrochemical plants, desalination, power generation, information technology and communication. With regard to trade relations, Saudi Arabia is Korea's fourth largest trading partner. The bilateral trade volume has leapt from 4.2 billion US dollars in 1991 to 43.9 billion US dollars in 2011 with 30 billion dollars of the trade balance in favor of Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom is also Korea's largest oil supplier, providing Korea with one third of its total oil consumption. Korea's exports to the Kingdom in 2011 reached 7 billion US dollars, primarily consisting of automobiles, ships, iron & steel products, electronics and machinery products. The relationship of the two countries is not limited to the economic field. Korea and the Kingdom are now exploring innovative ways for more enhanced relationship in the field of science and medicine. For instance, the Ministry of Health of the Kingdom and the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Korea signed the MOU regarding cooperation on health and medical service this February. Korean research institutes and the Kingdom's top quality institutes like KACST are currently conducting joint research programs like developing robot arms. Also, the government of Korea and the government of the Kingdom represented by KACARE signed the Agreement for Cooperation in the Peaceful Use of Nuclear Energy in November, 2011. Through the agreement, the two countries formed a stronghold to promote and encourage joint research in the field of nuclear and renewable energy. Also, the two countries are trying to strengthen cultural and people-to-people exchange, on the basis of the belief that those kinds of exchanges are the most effective, fastest and steadiest ways to promote mutual understanding, friendship and solidarity. Those can be a strong bridge between the two countries, especially considering the fact that our two countries share common grounds of traditional values such as filial piety, respecting the elders and stressing hospitality toward guests. The Kingdom invited Korea as the Guest of Honor, to the 27th National Festival for Heritage and Culture in Janadriyah this February, and Korea invited the Kingdom, as the Guest of Honor, to the Seoul International Book Fair this June. The result of the two events turned out to be great success. In Janadriyah, around 160,000 Saudis visited the Korean Pavilion and enjoyed Korea's traditional and modern art and technology, and the Kingdom's participation in the book fair greatly contributed to broadening and deepening the Korean people's horizon on not only the Kingdom, but also the Arab and Islamic culture. The two countries' mutual understanding is expected to be more deepened by the operation of a direct flight of Korean Air between Seoul and Riyadh (and Jeddah) from November 9, 2012, promoting the active exchange of visits at varying levels. As one of these exchanges, Korea and the Kingdom are taking note that the youth exchange can play a pivotal role in the future relationship of the two countries. Saudi youth delegation organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom visited Korea and a Korean youth delegation is expected to visit the Kingdom at the end of this year. In this regard, Korea's government has opened its universities to the Kingdom. Korea has more than 400 universities including state-of-the-art technology colleges and vocational and training colleges. As of 2012, around 300 Saudi students are studying in Korea under the King Abdullah Scholarship Program, and enjoying special care by the universities. Korea has unswerving will and is fully ready to strengthen the relationship with the Kingdom in every field. I firmly believe that our two countries' friendship and solidarity will be much more stronger in the years to come. Once again, I would like to extend my sincere greetings to the leadership, government and people of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on this auspicious occasion.
