Guest speech of the Ambassador of South Korea; H.E. Kim Sung-Hwan

On the occasion of the recent appointment of the new UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon (former South Korean Foreign Minister) who previously also served as the Ambassador to Austria, the IMC Export Department, under the auspices of the Chair for International, Legal and Global Political Studies, was inviting the current Ambassador of South Korea to Austria H.E. Kim Sung-Hwan for a visit and guest lecture on 17th January 2007. The Ambassador, who is also accredited to the Vienna-based Intl. Organizations and to the Republic of Slovenia, accompanied by two senior diplomats Counsellor Mr. Hee-Seog Kwon and First Secretary Mr. Sang-beom Lim, spoke on the topic “Korea - the current and future position in the region.” His remarks were followed by nearly two hours of discussions with students and professors, and by a reception.

Ambassador Kim’s remarks offered the IMC Export Fellows a rare opportunity to gain insights into Korea’s security, economic, environmental, education and energy policies as well as the technological and research development (including the special referential presentation on South Korea’s position in the 6-party talks on North Korea). Following his formal remarks the Ambassador provided thoughtful and inspiring responses to questions on East Asia relationships, trans-Pacific trade relations, the South Korean economic and educational “miracle”, and other topics.

An extraordinarily eloquent senior career diplomat, Ambassador KIM joined the Foreign Ministry some 30 years ago. His major diplomatic assignments have included the US (twice), India, Russian Federation and the Central Asian republic of Uzbekistan. H.E. Kim has also held other major diplomatic positions within the Ministry including Assistant Secretary in the Office of the President, Director – General of the NAA Bureau. Before coming to Austria in April 2006, Ambassador Kim Sung-Hwan served as Deputy Foreign Minister for Planning and Management. H.E. holds the high degree in Human Sciences from the prestigious Universities of Seoul (Korea), London (UK) as well as the honorary Doctorate from Uzbekistan.

Summing up after this content-intensive and extremely valuable event with Mr. Ernst Fietz, the EXP Program Director, and Mr. Anis H. Bajrektarevic, EXP Chair and principal host of the event, Ambassador Sung-Hwan stated that he has been very impressed by our faculty’s continued interest in East Asian and Korean affairs. The Ambassador also complimented the commitment and knowledge of our students as demonstrated in the questions and discussion with him as well as with the overall achievements of our young institution. He promised to return to our university soon again.

Text: Mr. Bajrektarevic

The presentation about the nuclear issue of North Korea can be found here.