외교부

Germany Stands by Korea in Times of Crisis

The relationship between the two countries is now moving onto a higher level in all fields of cooperation. In order to speed up this process President Roh Moo-hyun is making a state visit to Germany at the invitation of German President Horst Koehler and German Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

Sharing the experience of division of the country, both nations have deep emotional ties resulting in solidarity.

This made Germany provide us the first foreign loan and intensify technical cooperation in the early 1960s, which helped us lay a sound cornerstone for our unprecedented economic development.

Furthermore, Germany contributed to our prompt overcoming of financial difficulties during the economic crisis of 1997 through dispatching investment delegations as well as actively supporting our position at the negotiation tables on our external debt.

In spite of such a close relationship, the trade volume between the two countries had been lingering at less than $10 billion for many years from 1997-2002. And foreign direct investment (FDI) of Germany in South Korea was also at a standstill or even decreasing after the peak of 2000, making it lag behind the Netherlands among the European countries.

But the turning point has come with the inauguration of the new ``Participatory Government’’ in February 2003. Already in the first year of the new government the trade volume broke through the barrier of $10 billion and ran right up to $12.4 billion.

This was followed by an immense leap in 2004 with $16.8 billion. Similarly, the accumulative FDI of Germany to South Korea attained the record sum of $6 billion in 2004, and our FDI to Germany as well climbed up to $1.3 billion.

This positive development resulted tremendously from the initiatives to raise our national image, which our government has been promoting right from the start. In fact, the government established a national image promotion commission under the prime minister in July 2003 so as to implement the initiatives more systematically and efficiently.

It is true that many Europeans including Germans, especially the man in the street, would to this day associate rather negative images with Korea.

The Korean War comes to mind, as does the division of the country into South and North Korea, the North Korean nuclear weapons program, or the violent demonstrations of militant labor unions. The 1988 Seoul Olympics and the FIFA World Cup 2002 in Seoul seem not to be foremost in the public mind.

Now, however, a number of golden opportunities elated us. South Korea was nominated the focus country of the ``2005 Berlin Asia-Pacific Weeks’’ in September and the guest country of the October Frankfurt Book Fair this year.

On the basis of these highly important events, we have ambitiously launched the ''Korea Year 2005.” Throughout this year and all over the country we will present our longstanding history and traditions. We will feature the Korean people’s passionate commitment on the one hand and their sense of public orderliness on the other hand as shown during the FIFA World Cup 2002.

The philosophy of our government, based on a firm belief in democracy and market economy, will also be highlighted.

Simultaneously, the image of South Korea is gradually improving in Germany. A glance at articles recently published in the most influential German daily newspapers underlines this.

In terms of statistics: In 2003, a total of 484 articles had brought the Korean Peninsula up for discussion, 26 percent (125) of them on South Korea and 74 percent (359) on North Korea. At that time mainly negative aspects like the North Korean nuclear issue were dealt with.

But the data for 2004 are quite different. The total number of articles on Korea has risen sharply to 638, with a notable decrease of items about North Korea to 37 percent (237).

By contrast, the reports on South Korea have drastically increased to 63 percent (401) and the scope of topics has also considerably been broadened to encompass politics, economy, culture, science, and so on. This tendency is still stronger in the first quarter of 2005.

Another example illustrates to what a remarkable extent our image is taking a favorable turn in Germany. Since Jan. 1 this year, the German government is classifying Koreans as citizens of an advanced country when issuing long-term visa according to the ``memorandum of understanding on entries and stays between Korea and Germany’’ concluded in December 2004.

This is the first case worldwide that Koreans obtain the same sort of treatment as do citizens of the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Israel.

In this connection, the German government even had to revise Article 41 of the administrative regulation of the German Aliens Act.

Now, a rapid growth can be expected in the exchange not only of businessmen but also of the younger generation for the future enhancement of bilateral relations.

Moreover, already at the Hanoi Roh-Schroeder ASEM summit in October 2004 it became obvious that there is a noteworthy similarity in the political philosophy of the two leaders emphasizing reform and engagement.

The summit talks between the like-minded leaders continue this year. That they share values such as the belief in the freedom of conscience, human rights and democracy will again be clearly reaffirmed at this Berlin summit.

Let me emphasize: the Korea Year 2005 events will maximize the synergic effects and will bring the present substantial cooperation to an even higher level. A new era is beginning in bilateral relations between Korea and Germany.