Office of the President Republic of China(Taiwan)

President Ma Ying-jeou met on the afternoon of August 5 with Representative of the Korean Mission in Taipei Dr. Koo Yang-keun and on behalf of the government and people of the ROC thanked Representative Koo for his contributions in promoting relations between Taiwan and South Korea during his tenure here, which will soon conclude. The president also expressed his hopes that Representative Koo will continue to serve as a bridge for interaction between the two countries.

President Ma remarked that Representative Koo is fluent in Chinese, Japanese, and English in addition to his native Korean, and also is a highly respected author and scholar in South Korea. The president added that significant progress in relations between Taiwan and South Korea has been seen in the nearly three years since Representative Koo arrived in Taiwan, including an increase in the number of people from each nation visiting the other, the signing of an MOU on youth working holiday visas, and academic exchanges between the two nations. In addition, Taiwan is currently in discussions with South Korea on commencing flights between Taipei's Songshan Airport and Seoul's Gimpo International Airport, as well as an investment guarantee agreement. President Ma said he hopes that progress will be seen on these fronts in the near future.

The president furthermore explained that Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai, and Taipei all have two or more airports and economic and trade exchanges will certainly benefit if the downtown airports in all four of the cities can be linked.

The president also expressed the government's condolences to Representative Koo with regard to the recent flooding in Korea and the considerable damage suffered in Seoul.

Representative Koo was accompanied to the Presidential Office by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ssu-Tsun Shen (沈斯淳) to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting was National Security Council Advisor Tung Kuo-yu (董國猷).