Successive Vietnamese ambassadors are long remembered for their genuine friendship
On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Independence, Ambassador and Mrs. Pham Huu Chi of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam hosted a reception at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul on Sept. 1, 2015.
An estimated 600 guests from Korean society and intenrational community attended the reception. The dignitaries in attendance from the Korean side included Speaker Chung Ui-hwa of the National Assembly, Korean Honorary Consuls General Park Soo-kwan (Busan) and Kim Sang-yeol (Gwangju and Jeonnam), President Rep. Kim Hak-yong of the Korea-Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Chairman of Taekwang Group Park Yen-cha (former honorary consul general of Vietnam for Busan) and Chairman Choi Young-joo of Korea-Viet Nam Friendship Association. There also were resentatives of business, cultural, social and media organizations who included Publisher-Chairman Lee Kyung-sik of The Korea Post (publisher of five English and Korean print and Internet media).
From the Seoul Diplomatic Corps came many mission chiefs whom The Korea Post cameras could reach, included Ambassadors Albino Malungo of Angola, Jorge Roballo of Argentina, Dato Paduka Haji Modh Rosli Bin Haji Sabtu of Brunei Darussalam, Petar Andonov of Bulgaria, Suth Dina of Cambodia, Hernan Brantes Glavic of Chile, Sylvestre Kouassi Bile of Cote d'Ivoire, Grecia Fiodalicia Pichardo of Dominican Republic, Hany Moawad Selim Labib of Egypt, Elizabeth Nicol of Ghana, Archbishop Osvaldo Padilla of Holy See, Hassan Taherian of Iran, Bessho Koro of Japan, Otman S. Saad Ahbara of Libya, Dato Rohana binti Ramli of Malaysia, Mohammed Chraibi of Morocco, Zahid Nasrulah Khan of Pakistan, Jaime Antonio Pomareda of Peru, Raul S. Hernandez of the Philippines, Krzysztof Majka of Poland, Alexander Andreevich Tomonin of Russia, Zoran Kazazovic of Serbia, Nozuko Gloria Bam of South Africa, Gonzalo Ortiz Diaz-Tortosa of Spain, Hakan Okcal of Turkey, Myrat Mammetalyyev of Turkmenistan and Vasyl Marmazov of Ukraine.
Speaking to the guests, Ambassador Chi said, “We are deeply aware that a country’s development is closely combined with peace, stability and prosperity of the region and the world. Dialogue, cooperation, mutual respect on the basis of mutual benefits, international laws and common practices are the most fundamental and effective way to maintain peace, stability for shared development of all countries.”
Then he said, “With that, on behalf of the Government of Viet Nam, I would like to express our most sincere thanks to the people, President Park Geun-hye and the Government, the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea and all countries who are represented here for their trust, valuable support and effective cooperation over the past years.” (Excerpts from the speech are at the end of this Article.)
It was a sheer surprise that there were two former ambassadors of Vietnam, namely Ambassadors Nguyen Van Xuong and Pham Tien Van. They were warmly embraced by their old friends in Korea for the happy reunion, including Publisher-Chairman Lee Kyung-sik of The Korea Post.
All the successive ambassadors of Vietnam, almost without exception, have made many good friends in Korea, friends by heart, and they are always a target of fond memories among the Koreans. In particular, Ambassador Nguyen Phu Binh is very much talked about even today among Koreans because he made friends with heart and not so much with diplomacy in mind.
There were beautiful performances by a Vietnamese dance-music troupe formed with beautiful women and handsome men. They won a warm applause and great attention from the audience for the beautiful music and dances as well as the colorful and attractive Aozai costumes.
Excerpts from the speech of Ambassador Chi:
It’s a great honor for me, my wife and two other representatives of Vietnam Government in Korea, Chairman Park Soo Kwan and Chairman Kim Sang Yael, Consul-Generals of Viet Nam in Busan and Gwangju, to welcome all of you today at the Reception to commemorate the 70thanniversary of the Independence Day of Viet Nam. Especially, our happiness is doubled when we have Honorable Chung Ui-hwa, Speaker of Korean National Assembly, a close and great friend of Vietnamese people, to join us in this important event.
As you know, tomorrow, 2nd of September, is another bench mark of Vietnamese history ? 70 years since the Declaration of Independence of Viet Nam. On 2nd of September 1945, President Ho Chi Minh - the beloved leader of the Vietnamese people ? proclaimed the Declaration of Independence in front of fifty thousand Vietnamese people gathering at Ba Dinh square in Ha Noi, giving birth to the Independent Democratic Republic of Viet Nam, now the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam. He declared to the world:
Vietnam has the right to be a free and independent country?and in fact it is so already. And thus, the entire Vietnamese people are determined to mobilize all their physical and mental strength, to sacrifice their lives and property in order to safeguard their independence and liberty.
The values of the Declaration of Independence are the essence of countless blood and lives of the heroic Vietnamese patriots in prisons, concentration camps in remote areas and islands, on the colonial guillotine machines and in the battle fields. These values lived in the hearts of millions of Vietnamese heroes who now rest forever in the quiet fields and in sacred ground across our country. Those are the reasons why 54 different ethnic groups of all backgrounds, all races and creeds and circumstances and faiths in Viet Nam, are willing to sacrifice themselves to defend our independence and sovereignty, our land and sea territory and work hard and smart to build our nation to be stronger and stronger, bringing the happiness and prosperity for all Vietnamese at home and abroad.
Therefore, over the past 70 years and today in particularly, we have been always enshrining in our hearts the gratitude to President Ho Chi Minh, the founder of the independent Vietnam, the heroic martyrs, comrades and compatriots who sacrificed and dedicated their whole lives to the struggle for national independence, freedom and reunification. We have also been grateful to the revolutionary veterans, Vietnamese heroic mothers, heroes of the armed forces, war invalids, martyr families, families with meritorious contribution to the country, veterans, former youth volunteers, battle-field civil workers, as well as compatriots and comrades all over the country and abroad for devoting their sweat and blood, wisdom, talent, energy, and wealth to our great wars of resistance.
We are deeply aware that a country’s development is closely combined with peace, stability and prosperity of the region and the world. Dialogue, cooperation, mutual respect on the basis of mutual benefits, international laws and common practices are the most fundamental and effective way to maintain peace, stability for shared development of all countries.
With that, on behalf of the Government of Viet Nam, I would like to express our most sincere thanks to the people, President Park Geun-hye and the Government, the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea and all countries who are represented here for their trust, valuable support and effective cooperation over the past years. Especially, I would like to personally thank my Big Brother, the Honorable Chung Ui-hwa, speaker of Korean National Assembly for his great efforts to strengthen the Vietnam-Korea partnership and his whole-hearted feelings for Vietnam.
The strategic cooperation partnership between Viet Nam and Korea nowadays is not only reflected by political trust, by rapidly increasing trade and investment but also by historical, cultural similarities and the shared objective of building our powerful countries with happy people living in a peaceful and stable environment. That is the partnership of model which is higher than any form of bilateral relationship in modern history of international relations. We firmly believe that our bilateral strategic cooperation partnership will be further developed in a more dynamic and effective manner in the future.