1. A park in Dresden, the capital of Sachsen province of former East Germany, will be named after Korea. The city of Dresden has decided to name its recently created citizen park “Koreanischer Platz (Korean Plaza)” as a symbol of friendship and cooperation between the Republic of Korea and Germany. Its commemorative ceremony will take place on March 23 in the presence Mayor of Dresden Helma Orosz and the ROK’s Ambassador to Germany Kim Jae-shin.

2. The “Koreanischer Platz” project, which the two countries started to pursue during President Park Geun-hye’s visit to Germany in March 2014, will bear fruit shortly ahead of the first anniversary of President Park’s visit to Dresden, after undergoing due procedures, including winning an approval from the City Council of Dresden.

3. “Koreanischer Platz,” a citizen park spanning 1,750m2, is in walking distance from the Zwinger palace, one of the most popular tourist attractions in Dresden. With a subway station nearby, it is easily accessible.

* According to the Dresden authorities, although there are many streets in Germany named after cities of other countries, very few are named after particular countries. They added that to their knowledge, “Koreanischer Platz,” a formally registered park in downtown, not in a special international district or an area with a large foreign population, marks the first of its kind to be created in not only Germany but also entire Europe.

4. The plaza is expected to become “a plaza of friendship” that symbolizes the future-oriented cooperative relations between the ROK and Germany; as well as “a plaza of unification” that represents the great significance of President Park’s Dresden Initiative and the aspirations for a peaceful unification of the Korean Peninsula. In particular, with the year 2015 marking the 25th anniversary of the German unification and the 70th anniversary of the division of the Korean Peninsula, the creation of the Korean Plaza is seen to carry great significance as part of efforts to implement public diplomacy for unification.

5. The ROK Embassy in Germany will boost public diplomacy activities down the road to promote Korea and enhance its national image in Germany, a leading country in Europe. 


                Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

* unofficial translation