Dear editor,

It is always a great pleasure for me to read The Korea Times every morning and to browse the latest news both in Korea and around the world.

Your highly esteemed newspaper provides important guidance to the diplomatic community in Seoul and your wide coverage of the news is considered to be an essential source of information for all of us here who work for the multifaceted relations between our countries and the Republic of Korea.

I read an article about Synn Il-hi, president of Keimyung University, in the June 21 edition of The Korea Times. Upon reading the article a few thoughts came to my mind which I would like to share with you.

We have been closely cooperating with Keimyung University and personally with President Synn since 2008 when the Hungary-Daegu Friendship Association was established. Thanks to the excellent cooperation and strong support from the friendship group we were able to organize numerous VIP visits and cultural performances from Hungary to Daegu. I must say, in the center of the cooperation and friendship, there was Synn himself.

Not only I but all Hungarians who visited Daegu found him very open and friendly and it was so obvious that he was always trying his best to make Keimyung University a renowned institution of higher education.

In this spirit the Hungarian Liszt University of Music and the Kodaly Institute are working together with Keimyung to establish a high-quality program in musicology and promoting the Kodaly method in Korea. I believe all of these initiatives were possible thanks to the vision and the excellent management of Synn.

I have no intention to interfere with Korea’s domestic matters or the management of a particular university in whatsoever means I merely thought to convey my experiences and appreciation of Synn.

Finally, I would like to add that for a small embassy with limited resources like ours, the cooperation and the constructive attitude of the local personalities especially outside the capital is crucial. And in this sense President Synn has always proved to be a great partner sparing no efforts to the development of relations between Hungary and Korea.