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South Korea's new envoy to Russia seeking ‘breakthrough’ in relations — embassy

According to the embassy representatives, Woo Yoon-keun also supports confidence-building between the two states through regular talks

MOSCOW, November 10. /TASS/. The new South Korean ambassador to Russia, Woo Yoon-keun, plans to achieve "a breakthrough success" in bilateral relations, a South Korean Embassy press service official told TASS on Friday.

According to the press service official, the new ambassador stressed that he will "do all that is possible to achieve a breakthrough success in Russian - South Korean relations" during his speech before the diplomatic mission on November 9. The embassy also reported that Woo Yoon-keun, who replaced Park Ro-byug who headed South Korea’s diplomatic mission in the Russian capital since May 2015, "has come to Moscow and is preparing to come into office soon."

"Ambassador Woo Yoon-keun plans to actively work to build the so-called nine bridges between the Republic of Korea and Russia," the embassy’s press service noted.

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The issue concerns the initiative forwarded by South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in, who proposed developing cooperation with Russia, in particular in the gas sphere, railroad industry, ship building and the agriculture, at a September plenary meeting of the Eastern Economic Forum.

According to the embassy representatives, Woo Yoon-keun also supports confidence-building between the two states through regular talks, galvanization of a dialogue at various levels, expansion of economic cooperation, support for public diplomacy and cooperation in the sphere of culture.

"In addition, the ambassador plans to work on tourism development. He expects to increase the tourist flow between the two countries to 1 mln tourists by 2020," the South Korean diplomats stressed. According to various assessments, the current mutual tourist flow does not exceed 500,000 people.

On November 17, Woo Yoon-keun will submit copies of credential letters to the Russian Foreign Ministry. In the 1990s, Woo Yoon-keun provided legal consultations to the Russian Embassy in the Republic of Korea and in 2006 he graduated from the St. Petersburg State University as an MSc in Political Science. Prior to the appointment, he occupied the position of the Secretary General of South Korea’s National Assembly. Woo Yoon-keun is married, with two children.

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