[INTERVIEW] Spanish ambassador finds state visit 'point of inflection'

Spanish Ambassador to Korea Juan Ignacio Morro speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at the Embassy of Spain in central Seoul, July 21. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Cervantes Institute coming to Seoul in near future

By Kwon Mee-yoo

One of the tasks of an ambassador is organizing high-level visits between one's home country and place of sojourn, so a state visit would be a highlight.

Spanish Ambassador to Korea Juan Ignacio Morro worked in the preparation of two state visits during his term: King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain visited Korea in October 2019 and Korean President Moon Jae-in and First Lady Kim Jung-sook made a return visit in June.

Morro, who played a key role in bridging the two countries through the state visits, shared why Korea is an important partner of Spain during an interview with The Korea Times at the Embassy of Spain in Seoul, July 21.

"The relations between Korea and Spain are very solid, but they are not intense enough for countries that now are in position No. 10 for Korea and No. 14 for Spain, in terms of gross domestic product (GDP). We are rich countries with high GDPs and have similar numbers in GDP per capita too. But the balance of trade and investment is not enough, so we want to be ambitious," the envoy said.

Ambassador Morro was assigned to Korea between 1994 and 1997 and witnessed then-King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia's state visit to Korea in 1996 and knows the importance of state visits well.

"That's why the King and Queen of Spain came here in October 2019. Then (President Moon) was planning to visit Spain in May last year, but it was postponed because of the virus. Fortunately we made it in June this year, which is the second time in history that a Korean president to go to Spain, after President Roh's visit in 2007," he said.

"Our relations are very good, but we have to increase the size of our exchanges. And for this purpose, the visits have been very helpful," he said.

"Spain is a parliamentarian monarchy, so Moon met both King Felipe VI, our head of state, and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, the president of the government, during his visit.

"We organized a full-fledged state visit and it was the first organized by Spain during the pandemic. President Moon, as head of state, was welcomed by our King and talked about relations and friendship between both countries," he said. "But when going into political relations, it's up to the government. That's why we had a working-level meeting between both delegations after a personal meeting between President Moon Jae-in and the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. So both meetings were essential."

Since state visits have a specific format, President Moon had a tight schedule during his three-day trip to Spain.

"Moon paid visits to the Royal Palace and the Prime Minister's Palace, went to the Senate to deliver a speech and went to Madrid City Hall to receive the golden key. He also participated in economic gatherings and a formal dinner. Then he had the opportunity to go to Barcelona to take part in an economic event. You have to organize all these in two days," the ambassador said.

"It's always challenging to organize the timetable. There is formality and protocol, but you have the content: what are we going to talk about and which agreement to sign. The agenda of the President has to accommodate the situation in Spain, so you have to deal with a lot of things in detail. We organized both visits together with the Korean Embassy in Madrid, which did a great job."

As a result of the state visit, Spain and Korea agreed to elevate their level of bilateral relations.

"In the political field, we raised the level of our relationship to a strategic partnership. And also we agreed on a political declaration, in which we set up the views we share in the international agenda in political, economic, social and cultural fields. This political declarations are made between friends who share their views in important areas," he explained.

Apart from the political declaration, Spain and Korea signed five documents: two agreements about cooperation on public health and customs and three memoranda of understanding (MOU) on promoting small- and medium-sized companies and startups, Industry 4.0 (industries involved in the fourth industrialization revolution) and clean energy.

President Moon Jae-in speaks during an official dinner with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, left, and Spain's King Felipe VI, right, at the Royal Palace in Madrid, June 15. EPA-Yonhap

Spain interested in Korean EV battery plant

President Moon attended the Cercle d'Economia, an annual business forum, in Barcelona, delivering a speech highlighting the ties between the two countries.

"The state visit took place in Madrid, the capital of Spain. But the King also invited President Moon to accompany him to Barcelona and attend this economic forum and President Moon Jae-in welcomed the idea.

"President Moon is the head of Korea, a leading country in technology. We want to have investments and share projects with Korea in this field, so we thought it would also be a great idea for the Barcelona business circle to enjoy the presence of the Korean president. At the same time, it was good for the Korean side to see Barcelona, as a place for investments and tourism. So I think it was a good initiative for both sides and it went very well," the ambassador elaborated.

Spain, the second-largest automobile manufacturer in Europe, announced in June that it would invest 4.3 billion euros in the production of electric vehicles and batteries.

"The COVID-19 recovery fund will be earmarked to fight the crisis's impact and reform the economy in a similar way to Korea, because we are talking about digitalization, the green economy and social issues as we are also paying attention to the social cost of the crisis," Morro said.

"We have to invest in productive and modern industries. Electric cars and electric batteries are one of the industries of the future. Spain is a country that produces near 3 million cars every year and we have to adapt to future standards and challenges. We want to invite countries that are strong in these fields, for instance, the Republic of Korea. Spain is very competitive, in terms of facilities, support from the administration and the skill of labor force. So we are a good option to invest in and we hope that Korea and others will recognize it."

Morro said that Spain could offer a lot in the field of electric cars and batteries.

"For a long time, Korea's relations have been very much concentrated on its neighbors, but now Korea is trying to diversify its markets and exchanges," he said.

"Korea is a great producer of cars, electric batteries, semiconductors and many other high technology items. Europe undoubtedly is a great market, and Korean companies have already invested in many European countries and want to invest more, because the results have been very productive."

Korean companies want to invest in countries in which the car industry is already strong, so an electric battery plant in Spain would be a good option for both, said Morro.

"If you want to sell electric batteries, it might be a good idea to do it to a country with a strong car industry. This is only one of the arguments supporting the Spanish proposal," he said.

"We have had two state visits in less than two years despite COVID-19 and both were a success. They show the interest from two economies of very similar size. Korea is very attractive to Spain and Spain to Korea. The visits have been instrumental and we plan to carry out these plans for more concrete results. This is going to be a point of inflection our relations."

The Sagrada Familia Cathedral, a Roman Catholic minor basilica designed by Antoni Gaudi (1852―1926), undergoing construction in Barcelona, Spain / gettyimagesbank

Mounting curiosity about Spanish language and culture

Spanish is the second-most spoken language in the world, after English, excluding Chinese and Hindi for their circumstances, but it is not yet a very popular foreign language in Korea.

"Here in Korea, Spanish is the seventh language in terms of opportunities for students. We understand that Korea has to pay special attention to English and Chinese and Japanese because they are (languages of Korea's) neighbors, but Spanish has to improve its status. That's why we need a Cervantes Institute," the ambassador said, spilling the beans on the upcoming Spanish language and cultural center in downtown Seoul.

"The Cervantes Institute will provide two things. First, it will be an institution to teach the Spanish language to Korean students regardless of their age and circumstances. The Spanish language is not only interesting for cultural purposes, but it can provide jobs. Spanish is a language spoken not only in Spain, but also in Latin America, in which Korean companies invest more and more. The Cervantes Institute will try to provide education in a language which has a huge importance in the world and should also have it in Korea," Morro said.

"Second, the Cervantes Institute will be a center to promote Hispanic culture ― not just Spanish culture, but Hispanic ― so that Koreans could enjoy it on daily basis. Shows, exhibitions, concerts and performances will be offered for free. It is time for us to do it and we plan to open the Cervantes Institute very soon."

Tourism has also had a huge impact on the Spain-Korea relations. As of 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, 630,000 Korean tourists visited Spain.

"People go to Spain, enjoy it and want to come back. Spain-loving Koreans will provide more business exchanges between the two countries and we want to do the same with Korea, because they are two sides of the same coin," he said.