06 December 2006

TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRESIDENT

OF THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA

HIS EXCELLENCY ROH MOO-HYUN

ADDRESS TO THE LUNCHEON

PARLIAMENT HOUSE, CANBERRA

Excellencies, distinguished guests, I am deeply honoured to be here today, in the birthplace of Australia’s democracy, and I am very pleased to have this opportunity to address you and to have very good discussions on our bilateral relations.

Your Excellency Prime Minister Howard and Madam, Honourable Mr Calvert President of the Senate, Honourable Mr Hawker, Speaker of the House, Honourable Mr Rudd, Leader of the Opposition, distinguished guests, it is truly a pleasure to be here today.

When Koreans think of Australia, the first thing that jumps to our minds is a noble sacrifice by the Australian soldiers. Over eighteen thousand of them came to fight alongside Koreans to defend peace on the Korean peninsula, and we will remember their noble sacrifice, 339 brave men of Australia who laid their lives for this noble endeavour.

When you ask Koreans what country is most desirable to live in, they always answer ‘Australia’.

And when they are asked to pick five countries they would most like to visit, Australia always tops the list.

Also, Australia is one of the three countries that most Korean students want to study in.

I think my interpreter is having a hard time because I am jumping off the script.

When I left Seoul a couple of days ago, it was minus six degrees Celsius, and it was very cold, and I am heartened to remember that the LNG from Australia is keeping Korean homes warm.

And without steel and other mineral resources from Australia, Korea’s automobile industry would not be able to exist.

And we have very close commercial ties, our two countries, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that without Australia Korea would be negatively damaged in terms of economic prosperity. But I do have one small grievance, and this is the trade deficit that is running at six billion dollars.

So when I raised this issue with his Excellency Prime Minister Howard, he said, ‘Well, this is how market economy works.’

And the fact that you are clapping at my speech at these precise moments, that is very perplexing.

And so, ladies an gentlemen, my request to you is: Korea is an expert, is a world leader in building LNG carriers, and so let us carry Australian gas in our Korean ships.

And whenever I go abroad, I see Korean cars, Korean cell phones, Korean appliances – TVs – I feel very much at home, and sense a deep friendship, and I have felt this here in Australia, and I will be returning next year to attend the APEC in Sydney. I hope at that time I will feel even closer ties with Australia.

And even if all my requests here today are granted, I do not believe that the trade deficit imbalance of six billion dollars can be corrected, but let us try our best.

And I note that there are twenty six thousand students who come to Australia to study, and I believe their tuition fee is quite substantial as well.

And all these tourists are surely contributing to the Australian economy.

And so it is really difficult for Korea to even break even.

Distinguished guests, Korea is currently trying to host two international events, the Winter Olympics in Pyeong Chang, Korea, in 2014, and the Yeosu World Expo in 2012. These are opportunities that I hope I will be able to welcome many Australians to, and so in order for this to happen, I believe the Australian Government must support our bid for these international events. So if any of you here have good connections with, let’s say the IOC, the members of the International Olympic Committee, please, mobilise them.

Thank you very much for your kind response to my speech.

But I am not quite finished.

I would like to introduce you to latest state-of-the-art technologies, Digital Mobile Broadcasting and Wireless Broadcasting, that Korea has developed.

Distinguished guests, I was very touched with the welcome, warm welcome, I received here in Australia. The members of the Government, of the Parliament, even the leader of the Opposition came to greet me and to say some very kind words, and I think it showcases Australia’s democracy at its finest.

Korea has come a long way in building the present prosperity and democracy. The Korean people have sacrificed much to get rid of the military dictatorship and in the ensuing ten years, to eliminate and eradicate the corruption that persisted. Now, we have to a certain extent succeeded in building a society that is fair, that the rule of law is respected, and that is transparent. But this is not our final goal. Our ultimate objective is to have a mature society where difference of opinion is tolerated with much indulgence and where dialogue and a spirit of compromise lives on.

And so, Korea’s aspiration to have a truly democratic society where dialogue and compromise is able to take place – it was my idea, my personal idea, that I wanted to live in a society where there is competition surely, but where dialogue and compromise exist side by side. But when I came to Australia I felt that this was precisely the kind of democracy that we should strive to achieve.

And of course, I myself am trying my best, and I will continue to work with all the politicians in order to reach this noble goal, but we have a long way to go, and coming here, I feel that the democracy Australia has should be its strongest export to Korea.

Onto another topic, the North Korean nuclear issue, I very much understand the concerns that the international community harbours, and I fully intend to stand with the international community in implementing the UN Security Resolution.

I am often questioned, why is the Korean Government being very passive in dealing with this issue? I am not quite sure that this question is justified.

I would like to take this opportunity to briefly explain the Korean Government’s position on this issue, because I know it is of interest to all of you here. I would like to explain that even before the UN Security Council Resolution was adopted, my government was in fact implementing measures that are called for in the present resolution that was adopted. We have in fact suspended rice and fertiliser aid, which is humanitarian aid to North Korea, which amounts to 360 million dollars worth of aid. These, of course, measures, were taken independently and before the UN Resolution was adopted, so we are hard-pressed to come up with any new additional measures.

And if we were to look at the monetary value of the aid that was suspended, I believe this amounts to a greater value than all the other sanctions put together by the international community, including the Untied States, Japan and China.

On the issue of PSI, we have made it very clear that we support the principles of the PSI, and that we fully intend to cooperate.

And because Korea is in very close proximity with North Korea, we are of the view that we must be cautious, and we must try to evade any action that might bring Korea into direct, armed military conflict with North Korea.

Of course, we fully support the non-proliferation objective.

But a more fundamental question – issue - is that the nuclear weapons arsenal must in fact be terminated.

And of course these two objectives of the international community, stopping and preventing proliferation, as well as terminating North Korea’s nuclear program, these are two very important objectives which we share, but these measures were devised to deal with threats of the future, and for the Korean Government to take action, that might endanger the present stability and peace on the Korean peninsula. This is a very difficult position.

And ladies and gentlemen, I would dare say that Korea knows North Korea the best, we are experts in fact in dealing with them, and should any unfortunate circumstance arise on the Korean peninsula, Korea would suffer greatly. We would in fact bear the direct burden of such an unfortunate event. On the other hand, if this issue is resolved satisfactorily, then we would be the biggest beneficiary of such a peaceful resolution, and so I think the international community would do well to heed the views of my government and the expertise of my government in dealing with this issue.

As you know, the APEC 2007 is being held in Sydney next year, but I decided to make the trip this year because we feel that Australia is a very close neighbour and a very good friend to Korea, and our people feel the same way. There are about 100,000 Koreans living in Australia, and I know they have a deep affection for Australia, and so ladies and gentlemen, I would like to ask you to continue to be a good friend, partner to Korea, and I thank you for your friendship.

Thank you.