Zubair Qureshi
Outgoing Ambassador of the Republic of Korea (ROK), Suh Sangpyo has termed Pakistan a country full of challenges as well as opportunities. Pakistan is a huge country and the people of Pakistan are kind, hospitable and very friendly. “During my two-and-a-half year diplomatic stint, I have made friends with Pakistanis and visited a few cities yet my regret is that I could have made more friends and visited more cities.” The ambassador made these remarks at a farewell organized by the embassy at Serena Hotel on Monday. Parliamentarians including Senator Sehar Kamran, Senator Sitara Ayaz, MNA Naveed Aamir Jeewa, Representative of WHO Dr Palitha Mahipala, Federal Secretary Ghufran Memon, members of the Diplomatic Corps, friends from civil society and media had turned up to say goodbye to Ambassador Suh Sangpyo and wished him best of luck for his future endeavours.
The ambassador is on his way to join as Consul General of South Korea in Atlanta and is set to depart in mid of July. His successor who has also served as Consul General in Japan and is currently posted at the Prime Minister’s office in Seoul will also join in the middle of the next month but as per tradition, a day or two after the Ambassador’s departure.
While recalling the past two-and-a-half years when he assumed the charge of the Korean mission in Islamabad in the ‘middle of Covid-19’ the ambassador said in the beginning, he could not meet people as corona virus was at its peak. However, after the WHO issued a statement that Pakistan was safe from Covid-19, he started visiting and receiving guests and holding high-level meetings with dignitaries, business community and officials of the government.
Then everything changed suddenly in August when Taliban occupied Kabul in 2021. “We witnessed the Season-2 of the 2001 Afghan War and there started a non-stop diplomatic activity,” the ambassador continued in his typical humorous and nonchalant way. It is during my tenure the number of the Pakistani workers in the Korean industrial sector raised from the previous figure of 1,000 to 4,000 and the Korean government highly values contributions of the Pakistani workers in its economic uplift and infrastructure growth, he said. he also referred to Korean companies doing business in Pakistan successfully and contributing to the country’s economy. He also mentioned the establishment of a
hydro power project in the Northern areas with the help of his government. Presently, many Korean companies like DAEWOO, KEPCO (Electric), Sambu Construction Co. Ltd, DOOSAN Korea Midland Power Company Limited (KOMIPO) Korea Electric Power Hyundai and KIA Motors, Samsung, LG, LOTTE Group, Star Hydro power Limited (SHPL) POSCO, CK Solar, K-Water are working for the uplift of the Pakistani business sector. He also mentioned 2022 floods which were the worst in recent history as hundreds and thousands of people were displaced and a huge area of land was inundated particularly in Sindh, KP and Balochistan. The ambassador mentioned his country’s relief efforts during those catastrophic times and assured South Korea would continue to work for better, broader trade, energy, education and defence ties.
