Results of Korea-Poland Summit on Sidelines of U.N. General Assembly

September 23, 2019

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President Moon Jae-in and Polish President Andrzej Duda held a summit at the United Nations Headquarters in New York for 26 minutes from 10:35 a.m. (local time) on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

 In his opening remarks, President Duda recalled his meeting with President Moon at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games and gave high marks to the success of the PyeongChang Games.

 President Duda went on to say that 30 years have passed since Poland and Korea forged diplomatic ties immediately after his country had regained its freedom and independence. Extending an invitation to President Moon to visit Poland, President Duda said it would be greatly appreciated if President Moon could visit Warsaw on such a special anniversary.

 In reply, President Moon thanked his Polish counterpart for the invitation,

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 expressing the hope to meet him there next year at the latest should it prove difficult to schedule a visit in this year.

 President Moon expressed his pleasure at meeting the Polish President once again by saying, “President Duda’s visit to Korea delivered a major boost to the successful hosting of the PyeongChang Olympic Games as a peace Olympics.”

President Moon evaluated the relations between the two countries over the past three decades, noting “Bilateral trade has exceeded US$5 billion – a record high. Relations between our two countries, which had mainly been centered on manufacturing, have expanded to include high-tech industries while the number of people-to-people exchanges has increased to reach more than 70,000 a year.”

In reply, President Duda said that his invitation for President Moon to visit Poland was not just diplomatic rhetoric. The Polish President added that Korean products are very popular in Poland as evidenced by the fact that most TVs in homes there are Korean brands. Noting that everyone acknowledges Korea’s world-class technological prowess, President Duda expressed his hope for further enhanced cooperation with Korea.

 President Moon said, “Bilateral cooperation has recently expanded into high-tech industries, such as electric car batteries, and economic cooperation between the two nations has diversified to include science and technology and energy.” President Moon also expressed his hope that the two countries would strengthen collaboration in energy, infrastructure and the defense industry, to which President Duda agreed.

 President Duda asked about the latest developments on the Korean Peninsula, and President Moon called for Poland, a member of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission, to make efforts for peace on the Peninsula.

 In response, President Duda stressed that Poland will continue to provide steady and enhanced support until the peace process on the Korean Peninsula succeeds.

 In conclusion, President Moon said, “Concerts to mark the 170th anniversary of Chopin’s death and other Polish culture and arts events are taking place in Korea. Korea has fallen for Polish music and culture.”

President Duda responded by saying that Chopin could be seen as a composer from both Korea and Poland, considering the excellent performance skills of Korean pianists.   

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