Daily Times

Whilst expressing his country’s keenness to diversify relations with Pakistan, Korean Ambassador to Pakistan Suh Sangpyo has expressed the desire for launch of direct flights between Seoul and Islamabad saying this will encourage the Korean investors and tourists to visit Pakistan in large numbers.

“30 per cent of the South Korea population is Buddhist and Pakistan’s Swat Valley and Taxila with their rich Buddhist treasure of heritage should be showcased in South Korea,” he was speaking to a select group of media persons.

The Korean envoy said he was keen to establish a cultural and religious institution in Taxila and expressed optimism this will attract a large number of followers of Buddhism to visit Pakistan and stay for a while at Taxila, the cradle of Buddhism, which has a lot to offer.

He said, Pakistan, where the Indus Civilization began, has a rich and diverse cultural heritage such as the Mohenjo Daro civilization, the Ganhdara Buddhist arts and Islamic traditions. He said Korean government has also committed a grant for various Buddhists sites in Pakistan.

Suh Sangpyo said his country was undertaking multiple projects in the fields of IT and culture. He said the Korean government has funded a huge Information Technology Center in Islamabad. The Center was to be opened this week however due COVID situation the inauguration is delayed for a while. The ambassador hoped Prime Minister of Pakistan shall inaugurate this significant project, which ostensibly shall contribute greatly towards further strengthening of bilateral relations.

The ambassador said that the government of Korea provides trainings to several hundred government officials every year. These training programs are one of the major components in KOICA ODA programs for the improvement of government departments through human resource development and sharing Korean development experience.

KOICA’s fellowship program (CIAT) is Korea’s leading human resources development (HRD) training program where KOICA invites civil officials, engineers, researchers, and policy makers in partner countries who will lead economic and social growth of their countries and provides capacity building trainings focusing on sharing Korea’s experience and technology for development.

The Korean Embassy will spare no efforts to support all the people who are interested in enhancing relations between Korea and Pakistan, he added.

The ambassador said for the moment there were around 14,000 Pakistanis staying in Korea while 700 Korean nationals were staying in Pakistan. To a question the ambassador said as many as 500 students are currently undertaking their studies in Korea in various disciplines.

Ambassador Sangpyo said Pakistani workers are very hardworking and successful in whichever field of work they are engaged in South Korea. The ambassador said he had a meeting with the Special Adviser to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis, Zulfi Bukhari and discussed the potential of sending.