‘Pay More Attention to Latin America’
By Yoon Won-sup
Staff Reporter
The top envoy of El Salvador in Seoul said that Korea needs to pay more attention to Latin American countries, particularly Central America because they have much beneficial potential.
“Former President Kim Youngsam visited Guatemala in 1996, which was the first summit meeting between Korea and a Central American country. In 2005, President Roh Moo-hyun visited Costa Rica, the second visit to Central America by a Korean president,” El Salvadoran Ambassador Alfredo Ungo told The Korea Times.
The 66-year-old diplomat said that only two summits between Korea and Central American countries in 10 years are far from a desirable number of visits.
“For example, there should be at least four summits or a regular summit every two years,” he said. “President Roh has made some visits to Latin America, especially the big South American countries of Argentina, Brazil and Chile. And this time, he’s going to Guatemala early in July but it’s mainly because of PyeongChang.”
The ambassador meant Roh will request support from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) meeting on July 4 in Guatemala City to select PyeongChang as the host city for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.
Asked what should be done for better understanding of Latin America, Ungo said that existing institutions should get more attention. He picked the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which Korea joined in March 2005, and the annual Korea-Central America Forum, which began eight years ago.
Ungo also recommended Korea to make more free trade agreements (FTA) with Latin American countries as Chile is the only FTA partner in the region. He said discussions on FTAs are ongoing.
The ambassador has a very good reason to call for Korea’s attention to Latin America ― he is the dean of the diplomatic corps of Latin American countries. But he is more than that in terms of the position.
“Actually, we have three types of deans. I’m a dean of the whole diplomatic corps, which involves all the missions in Korea. At the same time, I am the dean of Latin America and the Caribbean,” he said. “I’m also the dean of another regional group, called GRUCA, or the group of Central American Countries.”
Ungo, who arrived in Seoul as ambassador in May 1995, became the diplomatic corps’ dean in March 2004 after his predecessor, the Colombian ambassador, left following a 12-
year tenure.
“It’s been more than 12 years since I came to Korea as ambassador. So I surpassed my predecessor, and probably I’m the longest survivor as the dean of the diplomatic corps in Seoul,” he said.
Spending over three years as the dean, Ungo said he realized the dean’s role is not that easy because he has to represent all the foreign missions in Seoul.
“There are so many events I have to attend as dean, sometimes four a day. I have to visit one place for 15 minutes and then jump into my car to go to another place,” he said. “Some people say ambassadors just party, enjoying themselves with drinking and eating. But being dean is a very demanding job.”
He further said that when he finishes all the evening events, he usually gets home at 11 p.m. But Ungo stressed 11 p.m. is not time for him to go to bed because it is 8 a.m. in El Salvador.
When he completes telephone calls with colleagues in El Salvador, he goes to bed at 1 a.m.
However, Ungo said he has really enjoyed living in Korea for the past 12 years as he has been living Korean history. He recalled all the major events such as the 1997 financial crisis, Koreans’ effort to overcome it, the 2000 inter-Korean summit, restoration of the Cheonggye Stream in downtown Seoul in 2005, and the six-party talks.
Last but not least, he wanted to clarify Koreans’ misunderstanding of his country.
“I was asked sometimes if drunken drivers are shot down by police in El Salvador. But it is totally not true,” he said. “The penalty imposed on drunken drivers is much less severe than in Korea.”