A Webinar was held on May 16, 2022 between Pakistan and South Korea on Trade and Business Development and Relation in collaboration with Karachi Council on Foreign Relations (KCFR) and the Jinnah Society. His Excellency Mr. Kim Haksung, Consul General of the Republic of South Korea was the chief guest, chaired by Mr. Ikram Sehgal Chairman KCFR, the event was moderated by Cdre (R) Sadeed A Malik, Secretary General/ CEO KCFR.
Cdr (R) Sadeed A Malik: Assalam-o-Alaikum and good morning, it is customary for Karachi Council on Foreign Relations (KCFR) to invite one of the Consul Generals at their board of governors meeting. Today we have invited the Honorable Mr. Kim Haksung. Thank you for coming honorable Mr. Kim Haksung, distinguished guests, Chairman, members of the board of governors, ladies and gentlemen, welcome once again to KCFR’s Board of Governor meeting.
Mr. Kim Haksung is a graduate from North Korea University, completing his post-graduation from Frankfurt in Germany. He started his diplomatic career from Germany, he was second secretary consul and then consul general over there, he then served in Kuwait, Oman and it is his fourth diplomatic appointment in Pakistan. I usually carry out an introduction of KCFR on these occasions but all members over here are well introduced so I may not go through the ritual and our achievements today again. I have met him a number of times and he knows us very well, he also knows the chairman and our co-chairman and all the Board of Governor members also therefore I’ll skip that portion. I request him to come over and talk about his country, I may inform you that a delegation from Karachi Council on Foreign Relations will participate in World Economic Forum at Davos in end May this year and we are thankful to our Chairman and his company Pathfinder Group and Martin Dow Group who will be holding four functions; lunch, dinners and breakfast under name of Karachi Council on Foreign Relations. They’re holding much many more functions but four of these functions will be held in the name of Karachi Council on Foreign Relations. In addition a MOU will be signed between Karachi Council on Foreign Relations and Swiss Asia Chamber of Commerce during this period, without any further ado may I request you Sir to come and talk about your country.
HE KIM Haksung: Good Morning everyone, I’m feeling a little nervous because I am here in front of so many distinguished Pakistani guests and especially here in this museum which I’ve already visited two times with my wife this residence of your very so respected national founder so today I’m feeling very honorable in this wonderful, historical pillar. I just want to talk about our country briefly and after that I want to mention the mutual cooperation between two countries and the relationship between Pakistan and our country. For me it is a great opportunity to enhance our relationship, also our distinguished guest and our diplomatic mission in Karachi. I served mostly my diplomatic career in Germany where I was for 17 years and six months this is my diplomatic career on the five times I worked in Germany. My Embassy, my Counsel General and I can say that Seoul, my headquarters and Germany are like a shuttle bus, so this is the five times I’ve served my diplomatic career and additionally I have studied in German University, I have told many times my staff members here Mr. Saud that Germany is like my home country. I was transferred directly from Germany to here in Karachi as a Consul General and the time is flying very fast, already one year nine months in Karachi, really time is like an arrow is passing very fast and I can say that Karachi is my city, really wonderful city I’m very satisfied. My wife is now in Seoul for one month, before departure to Seoul, on the way to airport my wife told me that after departure in the future in Karachi we are really missing this wonderful city so yes it is and really I can miss this wonderful city after my departure in the future.
In Germany or in our country or here in Pakistan exports are different . But I’m very happy because here a subtropical climate zone is so wonderful. There are colorful trees and subtropical trees so I’m really very happy to be here. Mr. Farooqui is here, I’m really interested in the trees and flowers here, and really Karachi is a wonderful city with over 24 million population. Pakistan is a very vibrant and a very energetic city and so wonderful, once again I’m really very happy and satisfied.
So on this occasion, I just want you to know about our country and relationship between our two countries, as you know Korea is a divided country while Germany is unified but our country unfortunately not so until now and is still divided between North and South Korea along the denaturalized zone. On both sides our front line is heavily armed and heavily fortified, on the north Korean side it is two kilometers and on South Korean side it is two kilometer. I have served in the military also on the border in a very difficult situation and so now on Korean peninsula because of that crisis management is of great importance to our country. After the Korean War the military provocation and Korean peninsula is peace processing at the same time crisis management. Now North Korea is in a really big problem, yesterday I heard news from our headquarters from Seoul that Covid virus has hit North Korea again and 300,000 corona infection cases are registered. North Korean medical service and medical standards are very low, the people are not totally vaccinated. Our South Korea government has already proposed medical facilities and medical assistance to North Korea but North Korea did not react to our proposal.
Our new government will have decided to assist North Korea who is now in a very dangerous situation, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has already officially declared that North Korea is in a state of emergency because of this pandemic. So I don’t know, I’m not sure that North Korea can bring this emergent situation under control also I’m not sure because their medical services are totally collapsed. So it is not an easy situation for the Korean Peninsula in recent months, many times they launched ballistic missiles and because of this so-called military provocation it has not officially confirmed but the North Korea has already developed nuclear bombs and they now developing carrier missiles while ICBMS missiles are already successfully launched. USA and Japan are very concerned about this situation; Korea is also trying to develop and launch the submarine launched missile. For our government this is really a great headache because North Korea continuously engages in military provocation. So because of that I can say if war breaks out in Korean peninsula it will be a catastrophe, we must avoid the war on Korean Peninsula which is most important thing for our government and for our people. I just want to say that this crisis management and Korean peninsula is of utter most importance.
I also want to mention that our Korean economy after the Korean War at the end of Japanese colonial was totally devastated. Korea is a totally agricultural country and still no industrial facilities are available here. Small industrial facilities were totally devastated and destroyed by the Korean War. After 1953 was the end of 50s and at the beginning of the 60s South Korea was one of the poorest country in the world. GDP per capita at the time was 140 US dollars, one of the poorest countries in the world. Now as of 2021 our Korean GDP per capita is 35 thousand US dollar, while it is the number 10 biggest economic power and number eight export country in the world. So we are proud of our achievement but we have also a military dictatorship in the media education as I was a university student in my campus, everyday it was a very heavy anti-government demonstration, we saw tear gas canisters, and we cannot study at the time the pro-democracy movement in Korea was on peak.
Korean democracy is now very strong, we are not young democracy but are adult democracy and our democracy is very strong. We have two pillars, one pillar is based on political stability with very strong democracy and the other pillar is based on an economic growth or economic strengths. So our South Korea is a tremendous achievement in the past 50-60 years with my parents and my generation. We are really a development country, leaders on the normal citizen we are not only the leader but the top leader. We are normal people, a normal citizen, we are leader of our development, we are very proud of that and now Korea has an economic stability, political stability, strong democracy, and a very strong economy. Additionally Korea is now a cultural power, our national founder has emphasized that our country must be the cultural power in future, not military power but must be a cultural power. Many times, they emphasized to the Korean people that our future must be in a cultural power, so our Korean cultural power is very vibrant very energetic and worldwide very respected, so we are also proud of this achievement.
Regarding the North Koreans crisis, I just want to mention that after the Korean War, many people saw this divided and so many people saw North Korean relatives, they are living under now. Most of these are dead, they are not alive when the sword is the unification of separated family members, it is a very urgent matter but we have no success. Our government has tried many times to reunite family members but they have success. They are living in pain and also few of them are leaving North Korea to go abroad. So it is a humanitarian crisis and as it’s not settled yet, it is very tragic. Most of our elderly people already saw this. Our South Korean government is trying to reunite these separated family members but North Korean government is not supportive, so unfortunately we have no success and it’s a high level humanitarian crisis I see in Korea.
I have already mentioned that Korea is a technically highly advanced country so I think we have a great potential of mutual cooperation between your country and ours. Worldwide we have very famous and prestige universities such as Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. This is a prestigious highly reputed academic in the science and technology. Pakistani young scientists are now studying there as Masters Degree and PhD degree, after studying in this university they can continue development of your country. I’m sure it is a very encouraging and a very positive signal. Our country has no natural resources whereas Pakistan is very rich in natural resources but our country has no crude oil. While we are poor in natural resources we have a man power a highly educated, it is our greatest strength. During the Korean War, every year, primary and middle schools students were educated on the maker ship tent. So for Korean people, education is the most important factor for development of our country. Korea is a very highly educated society and medical services are also of very high standards. I hope your young students and young scientists can attend the best course of our universities.
I just want to mention the relationship between our two countries that I think 1500 Pakistani students is on our study program at prestigious universities in Korea. Also Pakistani workers are working here according to employment permitted system, they are working in manufacturing and in agricultural sectors. But unfortunately it’s a trade between your country and my country is not so big, a very small portion according to statistics that our exports to Pakistan is just 0.2 percent which is very tiny and from your country imports is 0.005 percent which is also extremely very tiny. But thanks to the great contribution and engagement of Pakistani businessmen we have a good potential for enhancing bilateral trade and business activities.
As you know our Korean companies in Pakistan, especially in Karachi are very successful and as you know Korean Lucky Motors is now assembling KIA cars and Samsung smart mobile phones in the form of joint venture which is a very successful. Also so many Korean companies are involved in direct investment in Karachi. for example Rota Chemicals, Rota Horizon and many other Korean companies. But because of the pandemic situation, the corona virus has complicated matters and business activities were negatively affected. The Pakistani businessmen will have difficulties, also same situation is for our Korean businessmen who are interested to invest in Pakistani market, they were negatively affected by corona cases. But in the meantime here in Pakistan the corona situation is quite stable, also we have the corona situation under control so nearly all restrictions were lifted regarding the corona pandemic. I think it is a really encouraging and a very positive signal that we are now receiving so many visa applications from Pakistani people, it is really a positive signal for the opening of the business activities between our two countries. I’m anticipating that many Pakistani people will be flying to Korea to contact our business partners and get connected to the vibrant business activities in Karachi. It is very positive and very encouraging signal.
So I haven’t mentioned much details about our Korean peninsula on Korean democracy, economy and Korean culture and the relationship between two countries because of time limit. So I just want to conclude and thank you for your kind attention. Once again thank you for your invitation and thank you for your presence.
Cdr (R) Sadeed A Malik: Thank you very much, Mr. Kim Haksung and we can now ask a few questions. We envy the progress made by the Republic of Korea and people of my vintage would recall the 50s when pumps and motors used to be exported from Mr. C.M Latif. I may mention here that he has mentioned about his resources, they’re one of the big resources that 9500 megawatt from their tidal energy. We also have as much course as much about the South Korea. The house is open if anyone would like to ask questions.
Moin Fudda: Jeju Island is one of the fantastic place in South Korea, I think we need to promote it in a way that it is a mini Hawaii. If you can go via flights directly to Jeju Island, may be the people are applying for the visa. But that’s a big decision for you to take it.
HE KIM Haksung: Our mission on the issue of tourist visa for normal Pakistanis on the day you can fly to our country and you can take us to a tour, no problem as we mentioned Jeju island is a wonderful and a fantastic island. It has wonderful scenery and there’s a unique culture and I have been there only two times, the sea food is wonderful and so tasty there is a culture desert as well. On one side of Jeju Island there is a National Hollow Mountain side which have a very famous green tea plantation. This plantation of green tea is of a very high quality and very good in taste too. Thank you for mentioning this and you are welcome to our country to Jeju Island and to every corner in Korea. We are warm-hearted by nature and very kind so we are welcoming Pakistani people to our country.
Riaz Uddin Shaikh: My question is about basically on your education system and its standards, you say that there is very good standards for education but I haven’t seen any such advertisement or newspaper Ad where one would be advertising educational institutions of South Korea. Another question is about North Korea, its missiles and MRV are multiple re-entry vehicles which they have developed and they have actually used that or demonstrated that capability, how does South Korea intend to see this? Obviously you’re trying to avoid war at all costs. And my last question is are you going to be buying any of the American weapons because apparently you were looking at F-35 to be purchased for the South Korean Air Force.
HE KIM Haksung: We don’t intervene in the cultural activities it is most important thing, the cultural expression, cultural activities is in our current guaranteed Constitution. Our government will provide some financial support for this, but we don’t intervene in the cultural activities and cultural decision-making, it being the most important principle in our country. We support financially but we don’t interfere according to our policy. Our Korean Culture is very thriving it’s very worldwide it’s now enjoy the reputation. The Korean Self-Defense industry is very strong and we are exporting so many defensive weapons to other countries now we have developed and supersonic fighter jet F21. We are in testing phase now but maybe in two or three years we can put a few modern aircrafts in the field. Our defense industry is really very strong.
Dr. Azim Akbar: A lot of points like economy, culture and all these things which are very important in the development of a nation and I think that we can learn a lot from your country. Let’s see how we can sort of organize it so that we can see and learn from how you have achieved all these issues. My first experience with Korea was when I was there in one of the projects I was handling in Seoul. I was told that there is an expo going on but it was long distance from Seoul, I wanted to go there but I had a bypass operation a few months earlier so I said that I cannot fly that long. So I was told to go by train, I laughed. I said train will be even more sort of you know, but they said that no you travel by train and when you’re drinking your tea and if the cup really tilts even a little then we will pay a big fine to you and that was the case. So I was really so impressed maybe with your help we can have these kinds of trains. South Korean is a difficult language for us, for me also and the only sentence which I was learned, I hope it is correct, it is “Kamsa Amida”.
HE KIM Haksung: We have a very unique culture, we have a long history, we have a long tradition, we have so many UNESCO world heritage in Korea and especially in dynasty, about 500 long history of each dynasty, so we are proud of our cultural power and cultural heritage. We have our own Korean language which is very systematic and very scientific, worldwide so many foreigners are learning our language which is very positive. I cannot speak Urdu language because it’s very much difficult but I can manage to live here in Karachi with my poor English skills.
Mr. Javed Ashraf: I am a Vice Chairman of KCFR. I have a very mundane question, an automobile plant was supposed to be established at Port Qasim Karachi and I think the Hyundai people was in the process of acquiring land. Suddenly we came to know it has been shifted to Faisalabad, what are the reasons for shifting the plant from Port Qasim Karachi to Faisalabad?
HE KIM Haksung: It is the decision of our Korean companies so I’m sorry to not give an answer but regarding this case our Korean companies are really market oriented, they are searching market places here in Pakistan, but unfortunately our Korean companies market in Pakistan is not so big but they are small so they are trying to considering bigger places here. I can say frankly speaking, in Pakistan so many investment barriers for Korean companies there are some issues like political instability or infrastructure, electricity power supply problem and taxation issues. We have discussed these issues with Korean businessmen in Pakistan and they are trying to enhance direct investment here, so it is important to the Pakistani authorities to resolve these issues.
Mr. Kalim Farooqui: Excellency, talking about the economic cooperation between Korea and Pakistan I know that Korea has been extending public sector loans to Pakistan but unfortunately in 2015 you extended 500 million. But I was reading that you are going to pledge a billion dollars to Pakistan under what you call the EDCA fund which is Economic Development Corporation Fund, any particular sectors that Korea is interested in Pakistan? Because I’m looking into the possibilities of getting the government and the private sector to move in using that loan that is being offered.
HE KIM Haksung: It is very meaningful for me that there is a good news done here. At the end of March, I have already visited your third biggest city. Sukkur ,there is a children’s hospital under construction by our Korean consulting companies and it is funded by our Korean EDCF soft loan project. It is very impressive and many residents of Sukkur are happy about this. Maybe this project can be completed by the end of this year or perhaps the next year. Our Samsung will provide medical facilities and equipment for this hospital so it’s very encouraging news. Also there is an IT park in Islamabad completed by our EDCF project and in Karachi near the airport, also an IT park build which is in a beginnings phase and it will also be funded by our soft loan project in EDCF.
The Administrator Karachi has asked me that here in Karachi we have a water shortage problem and this is very urgent need to be solved. They are considering the desalination of these facilities because of these industries. The water level is very low and this is always permanent phenomenon in Karachi, so they are considering the facility. In this regard our Korean companies are very strong and are experienced working in Middle Eastern countries like Saudi Arabia, Oman and the UAE. Our Korean companies have constructed so many desalination facilities to serve water shortages, maybe here in Pakistan we can do that. The Karachi city government will decide about these facilities, so in this case hopefully our Korean company will develop big industrial projects here.
A Question from the Member of KCFR: Excellency, I have not been able to understand North Korea, it is a very poor country, it keeps developing missiles and nuclear technology, and it keeps firing missiles towards Japan, is it pro-America or is it pro-China and pro-Russia? Another question is South Korea is the fourth biggest economy in Asia and 10th in the world but your manpower is under a lot of stress as they are working about 18 hours and there are a lot of reported deaths in South Korea; also there is a discrimination against women, please share your comments Excellency.
HE KIM Haksung: As you mentioned North Korea is one of the poorest countries in the world, it is a totally isolated country and abnormal society but North Korea is a three generation dictatorship from their founder. Korean society is economically collapsed, about 35 thousand North Korean people have defected to South Korea. We have accommodated them and provided housing, money, job opportunities and education, they can resettle in our country. North Korea has developed nuclear bombs and missiles but not any conventional weapons. They have no money for normal conventional weapons so they have developed nuclear weapons and at the same time to use this nuclear bomb they must develop this carrier missiles. North Korean military nuclear provocation is really big threat to Japan, to USA, including our country but really North Korea has no money. The living condition is really so miserable but they will survive if North Korean legend will developed conventional nuclear weapons.
The second question, as I already mentioned that we have highly educated people but our Korean young generation and young people are now under pressure. They are working very hard in offices, in working places and they are under stress, but I can say Korea is a highly competitive society. The problem with young generation is that they have no family, they are enjoying single life, they are not married, they have no children, and the suicide rate in Korea is very high, so these are the negative side of our Korea. Our government is now trying to reduce this negative situation as we mentioned in every case in every country that there is also positive side at the same time of negative side. Korea is not perfect, we have many problems, we have this negative side and we recognize our weakness and our problems, but we govern all citizens and are making effort to change the two countries.
Dr. Masroor: Excellency, we are thankful that you came here. I would like to know your projects, your investment, as you mentioned about your renewable energy is particularly interesting. Also in here it is mentioned about the projects you are investing in Karachi, so you might know the issues of Karachi, for example Karachi needs mass power transport system; are you investing in mass transport system in Karachi and also establishing wave energy system in Karachi Port? And again as it is mentioned that you are a high-tech country so you are interested in collaborating with technical education professional system in Pakistan education system? Is there any project in EDCF for collaborating in education, technical education of professional training, renewable energy and mass transport system?
HE KIM Haksung: In Korea, the young students during university arrive for campus life, almost 99 percent of Korean students are spending one year in foreign countries on this study exchange program. But most of the young Korean students want to have this program not in a developing countries such as USA, mostly European countries, China, Germany, France and Italy. They have no interest in exchange program in developing countries like also in Pakistan. Frankly speaking our Korean young students can speak English relatively well, not so bad but compared to your student, it was not so good. So I think here in Pakistan, good education system is a strength of your university and your students, it can provide a very high skills as well as language skills and I think Pakistan also a good destination for exchange program for our Korean young students and we are really considering the exchange program between our young students with Pakistani students, it is very nice and positive side. If our Korean young students can live here in Pakistan for one year through this exchange program, then it will be a great contribution to mutual understanding of the young generations.
Cdr (R) Sadeed A Malik: Thank you sir, may I now request the Chairman for his concluding remarks.
Ikram Sehgal, Chairman KCFR: Excellency, ladies and gentlemen, let me first thank you for having elaborated so openly about South Korea and I’m sure people are here much more knowledgeable and it’s also refreshing but to see a career diplomat posted in Karachi to know so much about the local country and correlate it with their own country. Our problem is Excellency you probably know that in 1960s we were so far ahead of South Korea that South Korea came and borrowed from our five-year plan, and today of course you are a role model of what we should have been today. Also we unfortunately failed because we went after our industrialists and you actually supported those industrialists to bring big trading companies and big corporations and that actually raised the economy of Korea and what you are today. You’re right every country has got good points and bad points but there is no doubt that South Korea is a role model for many other countries. In fact something that should be an accepted fact and both in terms of not only, let us say, the economy but also the political discourse, you’ve seen the political discourse very open very knowledgeable and we’ve seen the change of government. The transition after the military rule that was there and the transition has been very smooth, I will say this to you that you’ve seen this thing, we need to carry this dialogue on further, we need to deepen this dialogue and we KCFR would be very interested in having you over again the discourse with you and to maintain a relationship with you, which is ongoing and must be maintained. I can only say to you that thank you very much for being here and I’m sure everybody here will give you a big hand in saying what a wonderful session we have had. Thank you very much.
