President Park Geun-hye recently held an interview with India’s Doordarshan TV to express her views on the Korea-India relationship, bilateral cooperation in business and other sectors and on inter-Korean relations.

President Park said in the interview, which will be aired in India on January 14 and 15, that she, “values very much the Korea-India relationship,” adding that she has longed to visit India. The president begins her state visit to India on January 15.

President Park mentioned Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), the great Bengali poet and the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, who wrote a four-lined poem about Korean independence in 1929, "The Lamp of the East.” The president said that this poem, quite famous in Korea, has given hope and courage to Koreans across the generations, many of whom also experienced hardship under colonial rule. She added that Koreans have very fond memories of that poem and continue to recite it today on many occasions.


President Park said that India has great competence in aerospace, IT and other high-tech industries and that she looks forward to greater cooperation in these areas. “Particularly in Asia but also around the world we need to create synergies through such collaboration and I am hopeful in this regard,” said the president. She added that there is a special relationship between Korea and India, as evident in the recently finalized Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

She said that India has strengths in basic sciences and software and that Korea is strong in traditional manufacturing, hardware and advanced industries such as smartphones. She added that the two trading partners have complementary economic structures and assets. “We have global competitive edges in these areas and should combine our strengths. We can also engage in joint research and development (R&D) as well, which would lead to win-win outcomes for both of us,” said the president.

In regard to the goal of reaching a level of Korea-India trade worth some USD 100 billion by 2020, President Park said, “In order for us to reach that level of trade volume by 2020, I believe the key is to improve the CEPA.” The president pointed out that only about 40 percent of that trade agreement’s capacity is being used. FTAs with other countries offer more liberal tariff rates. She added that India’s tariff rate is already lower than that required by the CEPA. This creates disincentives for companies to use the CEPA. “By improving and fine tuning the agreement, we hope to be able to further expand our trade volume and find mutual investment opportunities in our two countries,” said the president.

When asked about the safety of nuclear power generation, President Park pointed out that Korea has never experienced any sort of large or massive nuclear accident, ever since the country first began operating commercial nuclear reactors in 1978. She said that following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident, Korea has also introduced various measures to enhance and heighten its nuclear safety standards. “We hope to collaborate with India. We hope to be able to engage in cooperation that would enable Korean companies to share their knowledge and engage in technological exchanges as well,” said the president.

Concerning Korea-India defense cooperation, President Park said, “We [Korea] have been focusing on nurturing our defense industries and our world class competitive technologies in the field of advanced weapon systems.” She mentioned India’s strengths in aerospace, software and the basic sciences, and said, “I believe that if we are able to merge our strengths and engage in joint R&D in these areas, we could look forward to enhancing our respective competitiveness and competitive edges across these sectors, which would produce win-win results.”

In regard to North Korea, President Park said that the paramount objective for Seoul is to induce Pyongyang to become a responsible member of the international community, not only for inter-Korean relations but also for world peace. “It is not by their words but by their actions that North Korea should be judged. Despite the numerous difficulties we will confront, we will not despair at every turn. We will patiently work toward laying the ground work for the unification of the Korean Peninsula,” said the president. She added that Korea will endeavor to promote the denuclearization of North Korea and, at the same time, continue to provide humanitarian assistance and to expand people-to-people exchanges between the two Koreas.

By Yoon Sojung
Korea.net Staff Writer
arete@korea.kr