On April 26, President Chen Shui-bian met with two South Korean Parliamentary Health and Welfare Committee members at the Office of the President. Expressing his warmest greetings, the president called on his guests to urge the South Korean government to support Taiwan's bid for observer status in the World Health Assembly (WHA) this year.
"Rather than seeking full membership in the World Health Organization (WHO) as 'Taiwan,' we are applying for observer status in the WHA under the name of 'Health Entity' in order to avoid any disputes that might occur with China over territorial sovereignty," said the president. He also reassured his guests that South Korea's support of Taiwan's bid to participate in the international health community would not jeopardize their country's national interests.
In addition, the president implored his Korean guests to speak with WHO Director-General Dr. Lee Chong-wook regarding China's deliberate attempts to obstruct Taiwan's non-official participation in WHO's peripheral activities and China's degrading treatment of Taiwan as a "local authority."
President Chen called on South Korea to follow the parliaments of Belgium and Chile in passing resolutions backing Taiwan's WHA bid.
Responding to the president, the South Korean Parliamentary committee members said that they would continue to assist Taiwan's campaign to participate in the WHA and that including Taiwan into the global health system would ultimately be beneficial to all countries around the world.
Finally, President Chen also asked his guests to help promote the signing of an FTA between Taiwan and South Korea. He cited that bilateral trade reached as high as US$18.7 billion by the end of 2005, from which South Korea enjoyed a trade surplus of more than US$7.6 billion.
After the meeting, the president thanked his guests and took note of South Korea's democratic achievements in electing their country's first female prime minister.