By Kang Hyun-kyung
Korea’s relations with Europe are likely to reach a new high, once President-elect Park Geun-hye takes over in February.
This week, Park had a series of meetings with ambassadors from European countries.
During one with French Ambassador Jerome Pasquier, Monday, Park said she had deep ties with France because she still has good memories about studying there four decades ago.
She expressed the hope to work closely with the French government to get North Korea to give up its nuclear program and become a responsible member of the international community. France is one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.
On Tuesday, Park met Tomasz Kozlowski, EU ambassador to South Korea, at her office in Seoul.
During the meeting, Park quoted the author of the book “European Dream” saying that the EU prioritizes quality of life over the accumulation of wealth, and puts community and sustainable growth ahead of unbridled growth.
She went on to say that this is her favorite thoughts on Europe.
In 1974, Park stayed in the southeastern city of Grenoble at the foot of the French Alps to study. She went there shortly after she graduated from Sogang University.
In her biography, Park recalled her host family was a widowed mother who raised her daughter after her husband passed away. The host family were good cooks and very positive. A Canadian student also lived in the house and they all met together at the dinner table sharing their stories.
Park was supposed to be there for six months, but had to cut short her stay to return to Seoul following the assassination of her mother Yuk Young-soo by a North Korean spy during a Liberation Day ceremony held at a gymnasium in Seoul on Aug. 15, 1974.
The President-elect also has strong ties with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The German leader sent Park a letter to console Park after she was attacked by a man who approached her and then cut her face with a box cutter while she headed to a podium to deliver a campaign speech for then Seoul mayoral candidate Oh Se-hoon in May 2006.
In her biography released in 2007, Park said, she met one-on-one with Chancellor Merkel twice in 2000 and 2006, respectively. Park found several similarities with the German leader. Both are female leaders who were instrumental in saving their respective parties during periods of crisis before they assumed the party leadership. Park studied electronic engineering, while Merkel is a physics major.
Her trip to Germany was at the invitation of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, the Christian Democratic Union’s think tank.
Park visited North Korea in May 2002 after she accepted the North’s invitation through the Korea-Europe Foundation. During the rare trip, Park had a one-on-one meeting with then North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
In 2011, Park visited the Netherlands, Portugal and Greece as a special envoy to meet their respective leaders.