There is a lot of room for Greece and South Korea to further develop bilateral economic ties and other relations, both in "traditional" areas such as shipping and in new areas, such as innovation and high-tech, South Korea's Ambassador in Athens Ahn Young-Jip said in an interview with the Athens-Macedonian News Agency released on Sunday.
Talking to the ANA's Dimitris Manolis ahead of an official visit by the South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, who is due in Athens in the coming week for meetings with Greece's leadership and to attend the ceremony for the lighting of the Olympic Flame for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, the ambassador said that "all in all, the future of bilateral relations between Korea and Greece is very bright."
He also said that South Korean companies were closely watching the privatisation process in Greece and were on the lookout for good opportunities and incentives for making investments, while noting that public-private-sector partnership could be "a useful framework for inducing investments".
The ambassador also replied to questions about relations with North Korea and Seoul's position on the nuclear threat posed by its northern neighbour, emphasising the need for denuclearisation. The international community must send a strong, united message to North Korea to abandon its nuclear program, he added, while calling for strict implementation of UN sanctions against North Korea.

The full interview is given below:

ANA: What is the importance of strengthening bilateral relations and what are the prospects for further deepening them?

Many Koreans feel a sense of kinship with the people of Greece. Koreans learn about Greek civilization from early in their life. Greek mythology, philosophy, history, Aesop?s fables, comedies and tragedies are the major subjects that Koreans study in school and encounter throughout their life. We Koreans highly appreciate Greek participation in the Korean War in the 1950s and applaud the deep mutual trust, as well as the profound traditional friendship, thereafter. Greece is the birthplace of democracy, which many Koreans had fought for and finally won in the past. Emotionally and traditionally, our two countries have the right elements for strong bilateral relations. In the international fora, Korea and Greece closely co-operate with each other across various sectors. Voting tendencies of our two countries at the United Nations are very similar, as we both advocate liberal democracy and market economy. Korea highly appreciates the strong support of Greece in our handling of North Korea?s nuclear and missile provocation. In addition to cooperation in the international fora, people to people exchanges are very important in strengthening bilateral relations. Recently, we are happy to observe increasing exchanges at various levels of government, including the central and local government, the parliament, and the judiciary. Exchanges in the private sector are steadily rising too, including academic, cultural and religious contacts. Next week, Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon of South Korea will make an official visit to Greece. He will have a meeting with Prime Minister Tsipras, make a courtesy call to the President, and attend a business forum with the business people of two countries. He will also attend the lighting ceremony of the Olympic Flame in Ancient Olympia for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. Through this kind of high level exchange, the bilateral relations between our two countries will be continuously upgraded. All in all, the future of bilateral relations between Korea and Greece is very bright.

ANA: Which areas do you believe have the greatest potential for further cooperation between the two countries?

As always, shipping and Merchant Marine business is the area that has great potential for further cooperation. Despite the current challenges faced by the global shipping and shipbuilding industry, the solid basis of cooperation between our two countries still provides room for further development. An emerging field ripe for cooperation is the field of innovation and high-technology. Governments of our two countries are to sign an MOU on e-Government this October, through which we will mutually benchmark best practices in administrative reform, efficient work processing, and customer services. Significant strides were made recently in the private sector side as well, when the Korean IT giant Samsung made a buyout agreement with the Greek start-up Innoetics. Samsung will apply the text-to-speech technology developed by the Greek company across a wide range of its product ecosystem. I am sure other high-tech deals will follow suit in the private sector of our two countries. Additionally, a new market for Greek agricultural products such as wine, olive oil, yogurt, and masticha products has opened and continues to grow in Korea. Tourism is another field of cooperation. The number of Korean tourists in Greece is increasing year by year. Through tailor-made tour programs developed for Koreans, business in this area will flourish even further.

ANA: What do you see as the major investment opportunities for the Republic of Korea in Greece?

Many Korean companies possess strong expertise in constructing infrastructure such as roads, air and sea ports, tunnels, power plants, communication networks, power grids, desalination plants, and incinerators. They are also very competitive in the field of railroad-related rolling stock, logistics expertise, and internet upgrade technology to existing equipments. If there are good opportunities in Greece in the aforementioned fields, Korean companies will definitely consider investment. They are also interested in investing in the tourism industry. Land or resort development seems to be a possible area for cooperation. They are closely watching the privatisation process of Greece and possible incentives for their investment. A public-private partnership can be a useful framework to induce investments from Korean companies.

ANA: Could you give us South Korea?s perspective on nuclear tests and the series of ballistic missiles launched by neighboring North Korea?

North Korea is in a sprint to advance its nuclear and ballistic missile program. This year, North Korea conducted its 6th nuclear test, in which it claimed to have detonated a hydrogen bomb, and launched 19 ballistic missiles including two ICBMs and two IRBMs flying over Japan. Last year, it conducted two nuclear tests and launched 24 ballistic missiles. Such provocations are unprecedented. North Korea's nuclear blackmail poses an urgent and grave threat not only to the region but to the entire international community. Such provocative acts by North Korea constitute a flagrant violation of multiple United Nations Security Council Resolutions. South Korea holds that North Korea must stop further provocations and come to the path for denuclearisation as required by the UNSCRs.

ANA: What is the best response to the North Korean threat? What would a settlement to the nuclear North Korean threat look like?

Given the gravity and urgency of North Korea's threat, the international community has to be united in its response to North Korea. This year, the international community has taken the strongest ever non-military measures against North Korea by adopting a series of UNSCRs including Resolution 2375 in September. We, first of all, should faithfully and fully implement the UNSCR sanctions against North Korea. We should also send a strong, united message to North Korea to abandon its nuclear program. Such sanctions and strong international pressures are powerful tools to force North Korea to change its calculus and ultimately come to the negotiating table for denuclearization. We shall also keep the door wide open for dialogue if North Korea chooses the right path.
To reach resolution, North Korea must stop further provocations and come to the negotiating table for denuclearization. Our goal is to achieve complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner. We will take advantage of all possible channels including sanctions and dialogue to achieve the goal. We will also establish a permanent peace regime in the Korean Peninsula to address the root-cause of the problem.