EMBASSY LINE
Ambassador named foreign minister
East Timorese ambassador to Korea Hernani Coelho da Silva has been appointed foreign minister, and left Seoul on Feb. 12.
He will take up his position on Monday, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se congratulated the East Timorese ambassador over the phone before he left Seoul. Yun praised the envoy, who has been ambassador to Korea since December 2013, for his efforts to improve bilateral relations with Korea.
He promised that the Korean government would continue to work closely with East Timor to help its social and economic development. In response, then the East Timorese envoy vowed to continue to make efforts to upgrade bilateral relations.
Korea seeks to normalize ties with Cuba
Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said that the Korean government is seeking to normalize relations with Cuba, following the U.S. government’s announcement to restore relations with the country last year.
Yun told the members of National Assembly foreign affairs committee on Feb. 10 that the foreign ministry would broaden its diplomatic horizon into Central and South America and that normalization of diplomatic relations with Cuba was one of the measures it would pursue this year.
Korea cut diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1959 following the Cuban revolution, an armed revolt where Fidel Castro took power.
To strengthen diplomatic relations with Latin America, Minister Yun said the government would hold a flurry of bilateral and multilateral talks with countries in the continent.
As part of efforts to restore relations with Cuba, the Korean cultural delegation visited Cuba from Feb. 12 to 22 to participate in the International Book Fair of Havana.
Several renowned fiction writers and staff of the Literature Translation Institute of Korea joined the delegation.
Nearly 200 publishing companies from 31 countries are to participate in the fair.
Czech prime minister to visit Korea
President Park Geun-hye will hold summit with Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka in Seoul on Feb.26, Cheong Wa Dae said Friday.
The Czech prime minister is scheduled to pay a state visit to Korea between Feb. 24 and 27 at the invitation of President Park.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Korea and the Czech Republic.
The Czech prime minister’s scheduled visit is the first time in 14 years since President Milos Zeman visited Korea in 2001.
Sobotka is expected to be accompanied by about 60 officials and aides.
President Park and Sobotka will discuss ways to boost cooperation in various sectors including trade, energy, technology, and culture.
Also, two leaders will exchange views on European and Northeast Asian geopolitics and ways to work together for peaceful unification of the Korean Peninsula.
Cheong Wa Dae said, “As the Czech Republic took chairmanship of the Visegrad Group consisting of four Central European countries from July this year, we expect to gain support from V4 for peaceful unification of the two Koreas through this summit.”
Three others are Slovakia, Hungary and Poland.
The presidential office expressed hope for an opportunity to promote further bilateral cooperation in energy and development fields.
US envoy gets ‘Pororo’: U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert, left, holds the “Pororo The Little Penguin” doll which he received as a gift from Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Kim Jong-deok at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul on Feb. 11. Pororo is a South Korean computer-generated animated cartoon series. / Yonhap