Discuss the British government’s participation in the World Forestry Congress
Minister Choi Byeong-am of Korea Forest Service (KFS) met with the newly appointed Ambassador Colin Crooks of Britain at the Daejeon Government Complex on March 22.
They exchanged broad opinions on △ the British government’s support for participation in the 15th World Forestry Congress △ Korea's forest reforestation experience, △ Korea Forest Service's international forestry cooperation and the current status of inter-Korean forest cooperation.
Minister Choi highly praised the UK for its outstanding leadership as the chair of the 26th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (Glasgow, Nov. 1~14, 2021) in November last year. He emphasized the fact that more than 140 countries around the world agreed on the importance of forest.
Minister Choi said that Korea Forest Service will deal with all international issues in the forestry sector through this World Forestry Congress that will play a bridge role between the 26th UN Climate Change Convention and the 27th Conference of the Parties.
Related to this, Choi requested active support and cooperation from Ambassador Crooks so that active participation in the private sector could occur.
Ambassador Crooks said that the role and vision of the forest sector in the era of climate change would gradually grow, and he promised close cooperation from the Embassy of Britain in Seoul for the successful hosting of the World Forestry Congress and in-depth discussions.
The new Ambassador Colin Crooks is a Korean Peninsula expert with experience as a senior advisor for North Korea Policy at the British Foreign Ministry ('08) and the British Ambassador to North Korea ('18-'21) after serving at the Embassy in Korea from '95 to '99.
He expressed special interest in successful cases of forest reforestation and inter-Korean forest cooperation.