From Korea with love

[Hiptullha]

From Korea with love
By Dr Song Jong-hwan
Published: June 3, 2016
202SHARES
EMAIL

The writer is the former ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Pakistan

From June 2013 till May 2016, I had the honour and pleasure of serving as the ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Pakistan. As the former ambassador, I would like to share my sentiments about Pakistan and my dreams of the future. I must admit I was quite apprehensive when I was informed that I would be coming to Pakistan. However, I found that ‘seeing is believing’ and served to the best of my abilities. I was fortunate to develop great friendships with Pakistanis and diplomats living here. It was a proud moment for me to hear one federal minister say that my efforts made him realise how one person can change many things.

Pakistan and Korea share many similarities. Both became independent shortly after the Second World War after a long period of colonial rule. Korea became independent on August 15, 1945 while Pakistan celebrates August 14, 1947 as its independence day. Both faced a violent division of the people. Both had to spend large sums on defence since both countries were frontline states during the Cold War. Politically, Pakistan and Korea both witnessed cycles of democracy and military rule. The similarities between the countries also extend to the people and culture. We both highly respect our elders and teachers. Our languages have the same sentence structure and many common words.

Until the 1960s, Korea was a poor country. In 1961, its per capita income was just $85. Today, it is more than $27,000. Since 2010, Korea’s international trade volume has been more than $1 trillion. This is known as the Miracle on the Han River (located in Seoul). I recognise the great potential in Pakistan, which is blessed with a strategic geographic location, high mountains like the Himalayas and the Arabian Sea. Pakistan has fertile land and a large population of around 200 million people. It is blessed with natural rivers and a good irrigation system. And most importantly, Pakistan has a strong labour force which is educated, speaks English and is computer literate. Therefore, I have a strong belief that Pakistan can also progress quickly and achieve an economic miracle, the Miracle on the River Indus, just like Korea’s Miracle on the River Han.

I noticed that like Korea in the 1960s, Pakistan was also an agricultural country with about 60 per cent of people living in rural areas. And like Korea in the 1960s, there was a large income difference between the rural and urban people. Korea solved this issue with the ‘Saemaul Undong’ or the New Village Movement, which is a village-based economic development programme to help people escape from poverty. So far, the movement has been replicated in 20 countries and it is my hope that Pakistan will be the 21st country to adopt it. During my tenure, I have made efforts to bring Saemaul Undong to Pakistan so that Pakistanis can also benefit from it. My only wish is that our efforts on this should not end with my departure for Korea. Personally, I will continue to work as a goodwill ambassador for Pakistan after my departure. I will continue to make efforts to encourage greater cooperation between our two countries in trade, investment, politics and culture. I will continue to support Pakistan by presenting a positive image of this wonderful country at various forums.

I never knew Pakistan would be such a blessed country for me and my family. The weddings of two of my daughters occurred during my tenure here. I became a grandfather for the first time here, and now have two lovely grandchildren. I found Pakistan to be a beautiful country and Pakistanis to be hospitable people. It is my hope to visit Pakistan again and to see for myself that it has indeed experienced the Miracle of the Indus River. God Bless Pakistan. Pakistan-Korea Dosti Zindabad!

Published in The Express Tribune, June 4th, 2016.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/1115849/from-korea-with-love/

 

[risingsinga]

Tell you one thing...of all people, Korean are the most unbiased and open-minded people especially towards Islam and Muslim as opposed to the west. They are not racist and like to do their research before publishing/broadcasting their stuff. He has said nice things about your country. Pakistan should develop close ties with this great nation.

 

[PAKISTANFOREVER]

From Korea with love
By Dr Song Jong-hwan
Published: June 3, 2016
202SHARES
EMAIL

The writer is the former ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Pakistan

From June 2013 till May 2016, I had the honour and pleasure of serving as the ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Pakistan. As the former ambassador, I would like to share my sentiments about Pakistan and my dreams of the future. I must admit I was quite apprehensive when I was informed that I would be coming to Pakistan. However, I found that ‘seeing is believing’ and served to the best of my abilities. I was fortunate to develop great friendships with Pakistanis and diplomats living here. It was a proud moment for me to hear one federal minister say that my efforts made him realise how one person can change many things.

Pakistan and Korea share many similarities. Both became independent shortly after the Second World War after a long period of colonial rule. Korea became independent on August 15, 1945 while Pakistan celebrates August 14, 1947 as its independence day. Both faced a violent division of the people. Both had to spend large sums on defence since both countries were frontline states during the Cold War. Politically, Pakistan and Korea both witnessed cycles of democracy and military rule. The similarities between the countries also extend to the people and culture. We both highly respect our elders and teachers. Our languages have the same sentence structure and many common words.

Until the 1960s, Korea was a poor country. In 1961, its per capita income was just $85. Today, it is more than $27,000. Since 2010, Korea’s international trade volume has been more than $1 trillion. This is known as the Miracle on the Han River (located in Seoul). I recognise the great potential in Pakistan, which is blessed with a strategic geographic location, high mountains like the Himalayas and the Arabian Sea. Pakistan has fertile land and a large population of around 200 million people. It is blessed with natural rivers and a good irrigation system. And most importantly, Pakistan has a strong labour force which is educated, speaks English and is computer literate. Therefore, I have a strong belief that Pakistan can also progress quickly and achieve an economic miracle, the Miracle on the River Indus, just like Korea’s Miracle on the River Han.

I noticed that like Korea in the 1960s, Pakistan was also an agricultural country with about 60 per cent of people living in rural areas. And like Korea in the 1960s, there was a large income difference between the rural and urban people. Korea solved this issue with the ‘Saemaul Undong’ or the New Village Movement, which is a village-based economic development programme to help people escape from poverty. So far, the movement has been replicated in 20 countries and it is my hope that Pakistan will be the 21st country to adopt it. During my tenure, I have made efforts to bring Saemaul Undong to Pakistan so that Pakistanis can also benefit from it. My only wish is that our efforts on this should not end with my departure for Korea. Personally, I will continue to work as a goodwill ambassador for Pakistan after my departure. I will continue to make efforts to encourage greater cooperation between our two countries in trade, investment, politics and culture. I will continue to support Pakistan by presenting a positive image of this wonderful country at various forums.

I never knew Pakistan would be such a blessed country for me and my family. The weddings of two of my daughters occurred during my tenure here. I became a grandfather for the first time here, and now have two lovely grandchildren. I found Pakistan to be a beautiful country and Pakistanis to be hospitable people. It is my hope to visit Pakistan again and to see for myself that it has indeed experienced the Miracle of the Indus River. God Bless Pakistan. Pakistan-Korea Dosti Zindabad!

Published in The Express Tribune, June 4th, 2016.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/1115849/from-korea-with-love/

Much love from Pakistan to Korea. We Pakistanis love and admire the Korean people and nation. We hope to emulate your nation one day. You will always be welcome in the hearts of all Pakistanis Mr Ambassador.

 

[UKBengali]

Korea has shown how a 3rd world country can become 1st world in the space of 50 years.

 

[risingsinga]

Korea has shown how a 3rd world country can become 1st world in the space of 50 years.

Sir a little correction, it will be more appropriate if you use under-developed to developed instead of 3rd and 1st world countries and the reason is that when the white cunning people divided the world, they called west (Europe, North America, Australia) as the 1st world, USSR and communist block as the 2nd world and rest of the world as the 3rd world. Thus according to this definition, S. Korea (like Japan and China) is still a 3rd world country but it has become a developed nation with strong economy. I find this classification very narrow, derogatory and racist as 1st world basically means the white Caucasians.

 

[Blue Marlin]

Tell you one thing...of all people, Korean are the most unbiased and open-minded people especially towards Islam and Muslim as opposed to the west. They are not racist and like to do their research before publishing/broadcasting their stuff. He has said nice things about your country. Pakistan should develop close ties with this great nation.

whats religon got to do with this? a pakistani looks just like an indian and can both be treated the same in a foreign country. it the apperance that counts. how on earth am i going to know if some one is muslim by face front value.

back in those days (the 60's)pakistan was in the same boat as china japan and the koreas its a shame that they all took off (economically) except for pakistan. as for ties its normal i would assume. im no sure on the japanese but they would be more proindia and more anti pakistani i have seen japanese papers posting articles which are very anti pakistani. the chinese obivously like pakistan. singapore however?

@waz wrote a good piece of pakistans engagements with japan: here https://defence.pk/threads/pakistan...947-to-the-present.364801/page-2#post-6913549

 

[PAKISTANFOREVER]

whats religon got to do with this? a pakistani looks just like an indian and can both be treated the same in a foreign country. it the apperance that counts. how on earth am i going to know if some one is muslim by face front value.

back in those days (the 60's)pakistan was in the same boat as china japan and the koreas its a shame that they all took off (economically) except for pakistan. as for ties its normal i would assume. im no sure on the japanese but they would be more proindia and more anti pakistani i have seen japanese papers posting articles which are very anti pakistani. the chinese obivously like pakistan. singapore however?

@waz wrote a good piece of pakistans engagements with japan: here https://defence.pk/threads/pakistan...947-to-the-present.364801/page-2#post-6913549

LOL.......let's not start all that again. What about those millions upon millions of Pakistanis who have 0 resemblance to indians and look like Arabs, Turks, Iranians, South Americans and Mediterranean peoples? Are they to be discriminated against?.....lol

 

[Thəorətic Muslim]

whats religon got to do with this? a pakistani looks just like an indian and can both be treated the same in a foreign country. it the apperance that counts. how on earth am i going to know if some one is muslim by face front value.

He's probably referring to the open mindedness of S. Koreans. They'll never come at you saying "You're a Pakistani? You fu<king terrorist" But rather ask you about Pakistan and Islam. I agree with him.

Is the Japanese American member still around? @Nihonjin1051. @Aepsilons

 

[Blue Marlin]

LOL.......let's not start all that again. What about those millions upon millions of Pakistanis who have 0 resemblance to indians and look like Arabs, Turks, Iranians, South Americans and Mediterranean peoples?

no idea what your on about

 

[PAKISTANFOREVER]

no idea what your on about

Okay, are you Indian? Thing is that if you're going to get treated differently based on physical appearance then the comparison between Pakistanis and Indians is very inaccurate and misleading. The vast majority of Pakistanis do not look like the people of India. So much so that I know from personal experience that even white and other races can tell the difference in appearance of these 2 peoples.

 

[Blue Marlin]

He's probably referring to the open mindedness of S. Koreans. They'll never come at you saying "You're a Pakistani? You fu<king terrorist" But rather ask you about Pakistan and Islam. I agree with him.

Is the Japanese American member still around? @Nihonjin1051.

that depends not on the country, but the individualls, those who i dont know... have a tv and access to the internet south koreans have good access to both. now im not saying the south koreans hate you guys but the risingsinga user brought religion into this which is somthing i dont like. are all pakistanis muslim? just because most of them are does not mean all of them are.

as for the japanese user he most likey retired, he changed his handel to @Aepsilons and has not come back since

Okay, are you Indian?

english always have been. you however .... where do you live right now pakistan or england?

 

[PAKISTANFOREVER]

that depends not on the country, but the individualls, those who i dont know... have a tv and access to the internet south koreans have good access to both. now im not saying the south koreans hate you guys but the risingsinga user brought religion into this which is somthing i dont like. are all pakistanis muslim? just because most of them are does not mean all of them are.

as for the japanese user he most likey retired, he changed his handel to @Aepsilons and has not come back since


english always have been. you however .... where do you live right now pakistan or england?

If you don't mind me asking, White English? I'm Pakistani by origin but was born and have lived in London all my life. Have been to Pakistan countless times though.

 

[khanz]

very kind words by the ambassador I hope we will take his advice It's also my dream pakistan will be one day like south korea hell if we are even ever become half as developed as them i'll be really happy.

 

[Hamza913]

Tell you one thing...of all people, Korean are the most unbiased and open-minded people especially towards Islam and Muslim as opposed to the west. They are not racist and like to do their research before publishing/broadcasting their stuff. He has said nice things about your country. Pakistan should develop close ties with this great nation.

Unfortunately, we seem to have better ties with North Korea.

 

[jetray]

very true an average Indian looks this.

they are very different from pakistanis, who are like this.

It will be nonsense to find an average Indian given the climate ranges from cold mountains to tropical heat. It would be very hard find Indians being similar with one region to another . Even if they were how does one explain the color prejudice/ fair & lovely ads.