By Sohn JiAe

President Moon Jae-in held a summit with his Czech counterpart, President Miloš Zeman, in New York on Sept. 19 to talk about ways to further improve bilateral ties and to deal with North Korean issues.

The two leaders agreed that the strategic partnership between Prague and Seoul has grown since 2015, and they vowed that they will keep working to bring reciprocal ties to a new level.

President Moon said, “Korea and Czechia have one thing in common. As Czechia earned its democracy with the so-called Prague Spring, Korea, too, developed its own democracy throughout the years with the Seoul Spring. I believe more dialogue among high-ranking officials of our two countries would strengthen reciprocal cooperation.”

President Zeman said that, “I’m happy to know that the people of Korea took part peacefully in a candlelight vigil to return the country to democracy. I don’t usually call the Republic of Korea ‘South Korea.’ I call it ‘Korea,’ instead.”

Both sides reaffirmed mutual assistance in addressing North Korean issues, as well.
“The world must firmly respond to any further provocations by the North. At the same time, we should fundamentally and comprehensively solve the issues in a peaceful manner,” President Moon stressed, as he called for more cooperation and support from the Czech government.

In response, the Czech president said, “Resolving Pyongyang issues with large-scale military operations would claim the lives of innocent citizens. I hope that Seoul will follow the footsteps of Germany in achieving peaceful reunification.”

They also talked about next year’s PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

The Czech president said, “I’m happy to take part in the Olympic Games, if invited.” President Moon then replied, “I will definitely send you an official invitation for the Opening Ceremony, for sure.”

jiae5853@korea.kr