Main Activities
Speaker completes visit to Hungary and Czech Republic (1)
- Aug 25, 2023
- 93
Speaker Kim Jin-pyo completes visit to Hungary and Czech Republic
- Meets with Hungary’s President, Prime Minister, and National Assembly Speaker, and the Lower and Upper House Speakers of
the Czech Republic for economic diplomacy
- Discusses expanded cooperation in sectors such as automobiles, batteries, nuclear power, small modular reactors, defense,
high-speed rail, and information and communications technology
- Agrees on ways to train talented individuals by linking Korean firms with universities in Hungary and the Czech Republic
- Requests the Czech Republic’s support for Busan’s bid to host the World Expo 2030
Speaker of the Republic of Korea’s National Assembly Kim Jin-pyo successfully completed a visit to Hungary and the Czech Republic from June 3 to 10, where he met with senior-level leaders such as the President, the Prime Minister, and the Speaker of the National Assembly of Hungary, and the heads of both houses of the Czech Parliament.
They agreed on the need to expand economic cooperation in various sectors such as batteries, automobiles, nuclear power, small modular reactors, defense, high-speed rail, and information and communications technology. Kim suggested nurturing talented students by connecting Korean companies with a presence in the two countries with local colleges to help them cope with labor shortages. The overture was welcomed by both countries.
Speaker Kim began his schedule in Hungary with a tour of a Samsung SDI factory and a conference with overseas Koreans and heads of Korean businesses there on June 4 (local time). Officials from Samsung SDI and other companies have voiced concerns about labor shortages in a country with near-full employment. Kim suggested connecting Korean companies with local colleges to nurture talents, saying: “We need to develop young talents here, in view of labor costs and the distance [between Korea and Hungary].” He then pledged to do his best to shorten the visa issuance period from the current five to six months through cooperation with the Hungarian parliament and government.
On the following day, Kim held a series of meetings with National Assembly Speaker László Kövér, President Katalin Novák, and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and received positive responses to his suggestions on nurturing local talent and shortening the visa issuance period. Speaker Kövér expressed his strong resolve to address these issues, promising to convey the requests of Samsung SDI and other businesses to relevant departments.
During his second meeting in less than a month following their first meeting in Korea, Kim and Kövér shared the view on the need to maintain close relations between the two countries’ parliaments and to lead strategic partnerships. At a joint press conference after the meeting, they announced that the two nations would strengthen cooperation in advanced industry sectors such as automobiles, batteries, and nuclear power generation.
At the subsequent gatherings with President Katalin Novák and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Speaker Kim also underlined the importance of bilateral cooperation for the development of both nations, supported by the two leaders.
Kim and President Novák discussed ways to battle low national birth rates, expressing the hope of Korean parliamentary and state policy officials that Hungary would share its expertise in the matter. In response, President Novák asked for Korea’s interest in the Budapest Demographic Summit scheduled for September.
During his meeting with Prime Minister Orbán, Kim focused on cooperation on small modular reactors (SMR), and ways to ease labor shortages. He stressed Korea’s competitive strengths in SMR technology, while Prime Minister Orbán expressed keen interest in reactors both small and large and nuclear project cooperation. Kim’s suggestion of connecting Korean firms with Hungarian colleges to nurture talent were also welcomed by the Prime Minister.
Speaker Kim then expressed gratitude to Hungary for announcing its support for Busan’s bid to host World Expo 2030 — the first country among European Union members to do so.
After his three-day visit to Hungary, Speaker Kim traveled to the Czech Republic and held a series of meetings with the Czech Parliament’s lower house speaker Markéta Pekarová Adamová and upper house leader Milos Vystrcil on the 7th. Kim called for their support for Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP)’s bid for the Dukovany nuclear power plant project and Busan’s bid to host World Expo 2030. Adamová and Vystrcil expressed faith in KHNP’s technology and capabilities and requested greater cooperation in sectors such as SMR, defense, high-speed rail, and information and communications technology. They also expressed support for the idea of nurturing local talent to cope with labor shortages among local companies, as Hungary is experiencing.
In a discussion with the Chamber of the Deputies Speaker Adamová, Speaker Kim underlined Korea’s competitive construction and operation capabilities for high-tech and economical reactors, while urging support for being named the preferred bidder to build the 5th unit at the Dukovany nuclear power plant in the Czech Republic. Korea’s KHNP is vying with U.S.-based Westinghouse and France’s Framatome to secure the KRW 8 trillion project.
Kim then introduced Busan’s efforts to host World Expo 2030 and asked for the Czech Republic’s support. Adamová responded affirmatively, noting that she was impressed during her visit to Busan and had conveyed Korea’s intention to the Czech government.
Introducing the Czech Republic’s plan to build a 650 km-long high-speed railway by 2035, Speaker Adamová expressed a strong will to cooperate with Korea. Kim then pledged a detailed explanation by Korean companies and experts when needed.
Meanwhile, the lower house’s Chairperson of the Committee on Security Pavel Zacek disclosed his plan to visit Korea in September to explore cooperation in the defense and national security sectors.
Following the meeting, Speaker Kim met with the Czech Parliament’s upper house speaker Vystrcil. The two agreed on the need to cooperate in sectors such as SMR, renewable energy, and information and communications.
“Innovative SMR (i-SMR) is under development and is based on system-integrated modular advanced reactor technology,” said Kim, raising the possibility that their nuclear partnership could lead to exports to a third country. Vystrcil then unveiled the upper house’s plan for an academic conference on SMR this year and urged Korea’s interest and participation.
In response to Vystrcil’s request for Korean companies’ interest and investment in the information and communications sector, the head of the Korean Parliament pledged efforts to provide an opportunity to open a dialogue between the Czech government or concerned agencies and Korean companies.
Speaker Kim also shared Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Czech (HMMC)’s plan to expand local production of electric vehicles and extended Vystrcil an invitation to a celebratory event on manufacturing 2nd-generation EVs scheduled for August.
The idea of nurturing Czech talent by Korean businesses in partnership with local Czech colleges was welcomed by both Chambers, as the country is, like Hungary, experiencing near-full employment.
On the 8th, Speaker Kim paid a visit to Nexen Tire’s Czech plant and joined a gathering with overseas Koreans and Korean business leaders there. He said he expected that the newly launched Overseas Koreans Agency will help ease their concerns and vowed to do his best to improve the voting system for Korean nationals residing abroad, establish a Czech Council, support Korean language schools, and expand IT startup collaboration.
On Speaker Kim’s latest visit to Hungary and the Czech Republic, he was accompanied by National Assembly members Shin Dong-kun, Cho Eung-cheon, Ko Young-in, and Choi Ki-sang from the Democratic Party of Korea and Song Seog-jun and Kim Seung-su from the People Power Party; Chief of Staff to the Speaker Park Kyung-mee; Ambassadorial Advisor to the Speaker for Foreign Affairs Jeong Woon-jin; and Director General of the International Affairs and Protocol Bureau Hwang Seung-gi.
