May 12, 2009

These were the key issues of the talks between the National Assembly Chairman Georgi Pirinski and the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea, held on 12 May 2009.The parliamentary delegation of Korea, led by Kim Hyong-o is paying an official three- day visit to Bulgaria.

During the meeting Georgi Pirinski noted that recently the bilateral relations were booming and that this was a good reason for the parliaments of the two countries to enlarge their cooperation. Chairman Pirinski greeted Korea for hosting EXPO 2012 and added that the world exhibition will be an opportunity for Bulgaria to present itself to the Korean consumers and will give a boost of the bilateral trade and investments. He indicated the information technology and culture fields to be areas with great potential.

On his behalf, the Speaker of the Republic of Korea congratulated Bulgaria on its full membership in the NATO and the EU. He stressed the fact that next year the two countries will mark the 20th anniversary since the establishment of their diplomatic relations and that during this period they laid a solid ground for the present and future cooperation in various fields.

Speaking to the media, after the meeting, Georgi Pirinski noticed that the twenty year long diplomatic relations between Bulgaria and the Republic of Korea represented a good ground to strike the balance of the rapidly developing relations and to make a firm commitment to promote it further.

Mr. Pirinski and Kim Hyong-o agreed that the exhibition which is to be held in the Korean city of Yeosu would present a good opportunity for the future relations as will be the visit of the Bulgarian president in the Republic of Korea in the autumn of 2009.

The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea said that the talks were very fruitful and expressed hope that EXPO 2012 will present an opportunity to outline the main areas of the economic cooperation between the two countries. He thanked Mr. Pirinski for the chance to visit Bulgaria at the time when the latter was celebrating the 130th anniversary of the foundation of its National Assembly.

Answering a question, Mr. Pirinski noted that in the last years Bulgaria and the Republic of Korea had an intensive exchange of ministerial visits, and numerous important agreements were signed in the fields of economy and legal affairs. He added that these agreements were expected to give practical results. He also mentioned that a possibility to launch a flight between the two countries was on the agenda.

The parliamentary delegation of Korea is scheduled to visit the president of Bulgaria Georgi Purvanov on May 13, 2009.
Speaker Kim Hyong-o is to be awarded with the honorary medal of Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”.