South Korean Representative to Taiwan Chung Byung-won said he has been taking a more systematic approach to the exchanges between the two sides since taking up his post in December last year.
Chung made the remarks during an interview with the Central News Agency.
The two countries have always had close economic, trade and tourism ties, he said, adding that bilateral exchanges are expected to increase following the inauguration of new South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan and South Korea are each other’s fifth-largest trading partners, with bilateral trade reaching US$50.76 billion last year for annual growth of 41.98 percent, he said, citing government data.
The travel volume between the two countries was 2.5 million people before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, with each side being the other’s third-largest source of international tourists, Chung said.
South Korea and Taiwan are global leaders in the semiconductor industry, the former known for its high-quality memory chips, and the latter for its OEM and ODM products, he said.
South Korea and Taiwan are not only competitors in the global semiconductor industry, but are also close partners with complementary strengths, Chung said.
For instance, semiconductor-related products account for 44 percent of South Korea’s exports to Taiwan and 67 percent of Taiwan’s exports to South Korea, he said, citing data from last year.
Against this backdrop, Chung said that one of his priorities is to create a more systematic approach to supporting the ties between the two sides.
To that end, Seoul and Taipei signed a reciprocal driver’s license agreement in February, with immediate effect, to make driving easier for visitors on each side, he said.
Following the signing of a double taxation agreement in November last year, the two sides are now in talks on a potential financial cooperation pact, he said.
Those efforts are aimed at building systematic and structural support for closer bilateral exchanges on all fronts, he added.
With the expected easing of border controls in the second half of this year, Chung said he is hoping that travel between the two nations will return to pre-pandemic levels.
Chung said his office is also planning to hold a fashion show in Taipei in November, which would highlight traditional Korean clothing known as hanbok.
Next year, on the 30th anniversary of the Korean Mission in Taipei, a cultural week would be organized to celebrate the milestone, he said.
The 58-year-old said he has come to love the mountains of Taiwan, adding that he is planning a four-day climb next month to Yushan (玉山), Taiwan’s highest peak.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS