ROME — South Korean President Park Geun-hye met Pope Francis in the Vatican on Friday as she arrived in Rome to reciprocate his visit to South Korea in August. She thanked the pope for his dedication to promoting world peace, and asked for his prayers for peace on the Korean Peninsula, which has been divided for more than 60 years.
She was set to meet Italian leaders later in the afternoon to strengthen diplomatic ties and seek broader partnership for the future.
Rome was the final destination of her four-day state visit to the European country. Park arrived in Milan on Tuesday to attend the 10th Asia-Europe Meeting. After ASEM, she flew to Rome for a separate summit with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano and Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. Park is one of two Asian leaders making a state visit to Italy this week, Ju Chul-ki, presidential secretary for foreign affairs told reporters.
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| President Park Geun-hye meets Pope Francis in the Vatican on Friday. (Yonhap) |
The leaders of South Korea and Italy were set to discuss ways to seek a strategic partnership in a range of fields including the economy, culture, and science and technology. In particular, the leaders agreed to synergize Korea’s information technology with Italy’s global fashion brands to target the global market together, officials said.
With leaders attending, South Korea and Italy were set to sign a total of 17 memorandums of understanding to expand cooperation on trade, economy, technology and culture.
Park’s government believes that expanding cooperation with Italy could benefit small and medium-sized companies in Korea. SMEs in Italy comprise most of the country’s industrial forces. Most have less than 250 employees but together they produce 65 percent of the country’s exports and account for 80 percent of the country’s jobs. The Korean government is reportedly considering entering new markets in Africa and the Middle East in partnership with Italy by combining Korea’s information technology with Italy’s global fashion brands.
The two nations are among the top 10 exporters in the world. Korea is the eighth-largest trading nation, followed by Italy. But the trade volume between the two countries is relatively low, standing at $6.5 billion as of August this year. Among Korea’s export destinations, Italy ranks 29th.
By Cho Chung-un, Korea Herald correspondent
(christory@heraldcorp.com)
