 |
| National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug delivers a keynote speech on democracy and political polarization at the 143rd Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly at IFEMA in Madrid, Saturday. Courtesy of Office of Speaker at National Assembly |
By Kwon Mee-yoo
National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug has been seeking cooperation with parliamentary heads of other nations to support the Korean government's efforts to stabilize the supply of raw materials, in relation to a recent urea shortage here.
Park, currently attending the 143rd Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly in Madrid, Spain, held talks with IPU Secretary-General Martin Chungong, as well as his counterparts from various countries including Oman, Bahrain, Indonesia, Nepal, Switzerland and Georgia. Especially for the Middle Eastern countries, Park urged them to broaden their export portfolios to Korea.
During a meeting with Khalid bin Hilal Al Mawali, chairman of the Consultative Assembly of Oman, Saturday, Park thanked Al Mawali for Oman's export of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Korea and asked him to bridge Omani urea producers with Korea, as Oman is one of the world's top urea exporters amid the global supply chain reshuffle.
Al Mawali replied that he would highlight the urea trade between the two countries, adding that he hopes to cooperate further with Korean companies in the fields of renewable energy as well as tourism, logistics, mining and agriculture.
 |
| National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug, right, holds a meeting with his Omani counterpart Khalid Bin Hilal Al Mawali, left, at IFEMA in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, during the 143rd Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly. Courtesy of Office of the Speaker of the National Assembly |
Park also held talks with Fawzia Zainal, speaker of Bahrain's Council of Representatives, Friday, to boost trade relations between the two countries. Park asked Zainal to cooperate in easing Korea's urea shortage issue and Zainal agreed to support Park's request.
During the IPU Assembly, Park also gave a keynote speech on democracy and political polarization, Saturday.
Park introduced Korea's Presidential Committee for National Cohesion as a way to overcome political division and asked for support for South Korea's efforts to declare an end to the Korean War, as the country's division is an extreme example of polarization.
Meanwhile Park also had talks with Yolanda Perez Gomez, chairperson of the International Relations Committee of Cuba's National Assembly, and complimented the country for its stable relations with North Korea. South Korea and Cuba have not established diplomatic relations.
The 143rd IPU Assembly is the first face-to-face event since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out and delegations from 122 of the 179 member states participated, including 43 parliamentary leaders.
