Trade between Switzerland and the Republic of Korea - 50 Years ...

The Swiss-Korea Parliamentary Groupby its President Christian Wasserfallen,Member of the Swiss National Council (Parliament)About 10 years ago, H.E. Won-hwa Park, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Switzerland at that time, and Mr. MaximilianReimann, member of the Swiss Federal Assembly, met near Berne. It was Ambassador Park’s continuous vision to see thecreation of a parliamentary friendship group in Switzerland which could become a stimulant to initiate a sister-group in theKorean parliament. Mr. Reimann reacted positively to this idea and accordingly took it successfully to the Swiss parliament.The group has now been institutionalized for two parliamentary terms, a stable presidency is setting clear objectives, and apermanent secretariat maintains ongoing contacts with the members, the respective Embassies in Berne and in Seoul, andother relevant organizations.The group, newly constituted as of January 1, 2012, counts 40 members of both chambers (National Council and Council ofStates) coming from all major political parties. Taking into consideration that there exist numerous parliamentary bodies, theSwiss-Korea Group attracted a number of members above the average. This clearly indicates that a rising awareness of theimportance of strong ties with Korea is noticed. All the more, both countries are linked through a special relationship, namelySwitzerland’s engagement as a member of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (NNSC) since 1953. Swiss officersand soldiers arrive in Korea as servicemen and supervisors, and return home as true friends of the “Land of the MorningCalm“.29The parliamentary friendship group foresees mainly two objectives: First, to organize conferences and seminars duringparliamentary sessions in Berne on Swiss-Korean issues as well as meetings with the Korean ambassador, in order tohighlight political, economic and cultural topics. This is sometimes done in cooperation with the Swiss-Korean Association(former members of the Swiss Delegation to the NNSC; see in this chapter). Second, to arrange study trips to the Republicof Korea with the purpose of meeting colleagues of the Korean parliament and to deepen the friendship and understandingbetween the two countries. Moreover, this enables our members to serve as a “Voice of Korea in Switzerland". A specialacknowledgment needs to be extended to past and present Korean and Swiss ambassadors for always having grantedconstructive assistance.30Christian Wasserfallen, Member of the Swiss National Council since 2007and President of the Parliamentary Group Switzerland-KoreaThe group has taken its objectives very seriously in the past eight years. Together with our excellent secretary and organizerMr. Walter Leu, it was possible to organize three trips to Korea, where each time we had the pleasure of meeting colleaguesof the Korean parliament. Moreover, we enjoyed hosting a group of Korean parliamentarians with the President of the Korea- Switzerland Parliamentarians’ Friendship Association, Mr. Hahn-koo Lee visiting Switzerland in 2010. A number of Korearelatedevents took place in Berne with excellent attendance by group members and other friends of the Republic ofKorea. Last but not least, the substantive and well organized intervention of the Swiss-Korea Parliamentary Group helped toconvince the Swiss government to participate with a pavilion at the Expo 2012 in Yeosu.It is my great pleasure to express my congratulations to both countries on 50 years of a splendid diplomatic relationshipbetween Switzerland and the Republic of Korea.