S. Korean president vows increased cooperation with Czech Republic

PRAGUE, Nov. 28 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday vowed efforts to expand his country's bilateral cooperation with the Czech Republic, also highlighting the importance of cooperation between the countries to peacefully denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.

"South Korea is the first Asian country to have established a strategic partnership with the Czech Republic. That is how important the Czech Republic is to us, even more than we think," the president said while meeting with a group of some 30 South Korean residents and business leaders in Prague.

Moon arrived here Tuesday while en route to Argentina for the Group of 20 summit.

The president noted the South Korea-Czech relations have steadily developed since they established diplomatic ties in 1990.

"Last year, bilateral trade between the two countries neared US$3 billion. More than 410,000 of our people visited the Czech Republic," he told the meeting.

Moon stressed the need to further expand the countries' cooperation to new areas, noting he and Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis have agreed to seek increased cooperation into various new sectors, including artificial intelligence.

"I am confident the two countries will together open a new era of the fourth industrial revolution if we combined the Czech Republic's advanced science technology with our world-class information and communication technology and commercialization capabilities," the president was quoted as saying.

He also highlighted the importance of Czech support in establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula.

"The Czech Republic is very interested in conditions on the Korean Peninsula and is very aware of them. It is also a country that has a close relationship with North Korea," Moon said.

The Czech Republic has a permanent diplomatic mission in Pyongyang.

"The Czech prime minister said he will actively support our government's efforts to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula," Moon was quoted as saying.

The president also promised increased support for overseas Koreans, including those in the Czech Republic.

"You are the driving force that helps improve relations between our two countries," he said. "I ask you to help develop not only the Korean community (in the Czech Republic) but also the relationship between the two countries."