(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The Peninsula
Heung-kyeong Park, Korean Ambassador to Qatar, said that the bilateral relation between Qatar and South Korea continues to strengthen. He was speaking at the Korean National Day Celebration at the Korean embassy yesterday. The event was attended by Minister of Energy and Industry H E Dr Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada, Ambassador Ibrahim Yousif Fakhroo, Director of Department of Protocol, Ambassador Ali Ibrahim Ahmed, Dean of Diplomatic Corps, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
The South Korean Ambassador said, 'I am especially pleased to be hosting this event at this wonderful seashore location of the old Embassy once more. Sadly, it will be the last time we are holding this event here, because we recently received the final permission from Qatari authorities for the new Embassy premises, and after the completion of construction works nearly one year ago, we can finally move into the New Diplomatic Area of Doha at the end of next month."
He further expressed his pleasure at the stabilised Korean economy.Korean stock indices (KOSPI) increased from 1970 from the year before to 2,270 just after the recent presidential election to 2,526 yesterday.
The ambassador also discussed the lull in missile testing by North Korea followed by adding that the issue is still being closely monitored and discussed by the Korean Government with the Governments of the United States, China and other major countries in order to force North Korea to move in the right direction.
Against this backdrop of slow but sure improvements being made by Korea, the ambassador said that bilateral relations with Qatar continue to strengthen and evolve.
Qatar continues to supply one third of Korean natural gas consumption (12 million tons annually) and one tenths of Korea's oil consumption (100 million barrels annually). Meanwhile, 15 Korean companies are participating in the construction of various infrastructure projects here such as the Doha Metro, Lussail Expressway, Umm Haul power and desalination plant, and the Qatar National Museum.
He further spoke about the joint Qatari and Korean cooperation that extended beyond energy and infrastructure to health care, education, agriculture and other areas. To showcase the Qatar-Korean cooperation the embassywill host the 5th session of the Korea-Qatar high level strategic cooperation committee next month, under the leadership of Dr Mohammed Al Sada, Minister of Energy and Industry as co-chair from the Qatari side.
The ambassador also mentionedthe 1st living donor liver transplantation in Qatar was conducted along with cardiac and orthopedic surgeries on the occasion of the Korea-Qatar Medical Forum. At the 2nd Korea-Qatar Medical Forum early next month, new and advanced surgical operation on the liver is expected to be conducted.
The ambassador also touched upon the sporting events happening in Korea and Qatar in the coming years, including the Winter Olympics in Pyongchang, Korea from 9 to 25 February 2018, 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, followed by the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and, most importantly, the Qatar World Cup the same year.
He concluded his speech by hoping that Korea and Qatar, as hosts of two of these global sporting celebrations, can pull their weight as champions of harmony and peace.
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