South Korea’s Taiwan-Korean parliamentary friendship group made a low-profile visit to Taiwan, arriving on Wednesday and departing on Saturday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said on Saturday.
The delegation led by Korean National Assembly member and chair of the Taiwan-Korean parliamentary friendship group Cho Kyoung-tae visited Taiwan this week, the ministry said in a statement.
It was the first time that South Korean parliamentarians had visited Taiwan since the COVID-19 pandemic began, it said.
Photo: CNA
The ministry did not say why the visit was not announced until after the group’s departure.
The delegates met with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫?), the ministry said.
A banquet in the delegation’s honor was hosted by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光), during which a variety of bilateral partnerships were discussed.
The delegation also paid a visit to the Mainland Affairs Council to discuss tensions in the Taiwan Strait and the relationship between North and South Korea.
The visit was a display of South Korea’s support for Taiwan, the ministry said.
Cho has led the Taiwan-Korean friendship group since 2012, and has been instrumental in many beneficial programs, such as an agreement for the countries to recognize each other’s driver’s licenses, and a bilateral tax agreement, the ministry said.
Taiwan and South Korea are ally members of a global democracy alliance, it added.
The visit was part of a string of trips made this year by legislators and parliamentarians from the US, Europe and Japan, to show support for Taiwan amid rising tensions between Taipei and Beijing.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman