President Moon Jae-in hosted a luncheon at Cheong Wa Dae from noon to 1:50 this afternoon for 25 participants in the 2nd Meeting of Speakers of Eurasian Countries’ Parliaments. Among the invitees were National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun and Chairman of the Russian State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin, who co-chaired the 2nd Meeting.

In his welcoming remarks, President Moon stressed the importance of shared prosperity in the Eurasian region by saying that he believed that another name for Eurasia was “diversity” and that countries in the region had one thing in common—the more exchanges and cooperation there were between neighboring countries, the more prosperous they could be together.

President Moon asked the participants to take an interest in resolving the North Korean nuclear issue and provide support to this end. He went on to say that there were numerous tasks that Eurasian nations needed to tackle together, such as the establishment of logistics networks and the expansion of information and communications technology infrastructure. Adding that international cooperation and close partnerships would be the driving force for opening a new path, the President expressed the hope that the Meeting of Speakers of Eurasian Countries’ Parliaments would play a significant role on that path.

In his reply, Chairman of the Russian State Duma Volodin expressed gratitude to Seoul for hosting the 2nd Meeting following the first in Moscow. Echoing what President Moon mentioned about co-prosperity being the aim in common that countries in Eurasia were seeking despite the high level of diversity in the region, he explained that Eurasian countries would continue their efforts for dialogue based on such common ground and mutual understanding.

Speaker Chung Sye-kyun proposed a toast for the success of President Moon in running state affairs, for the success of the participants in their political careers and for the common prosperity of Eurasia. During the course of the luncheon, several participants made informal remarks.

Iranian Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani emphasized the importance of the role to be played by the Meeting of Speakers of Eurasian Countries’ Parliaments in promoting a balance in Eurasian democratization, suggesting that sincere efforts be made to deal with a variety of issues such as terrorism. He continued to express concern that terrorism had expanded over the past several decades and a growing number of terrorists had been armed with tremendous military capability. In this regard, he added, the Meeting should work to rectify the wrong practices of those countries sponsoring terrorist groups.

In reply, President Moon said that Eurasian nations needed to work together on the international community`s responses to terrorism. Among other things, the President said he hoped the experiences in addressing the Iranian nuclear issue would provide lessons in resolving the North Korean nuclear problem. Noting that Korea has been divided over recent decades after having been a single country for thousands of years, the President said it needed to take the path leading to unification as early as possible, but the North Korean nuclear issue constituted a huge stumbling block. The President then requested Eurasian countries` support for the South Korean Government`s stance for the resolution of the issue.

Jan Hamáček, Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, responded by saying that his country was willing to pursue enhanced cooperation with Korea, adding that it had a great interest in working together with countries in Asia. He continued to say that he wanted to have discussions at the meeting in various areas from which the two sides could benefit.

In this regard, President Moon noted that the Czech Republic, a member of the European Union, would be of great help in creating a Eurasian community. Speaking of the common strength the two countries have as manufacturing powerhouses, the President said that bilateral cooperation building on such strength would be very effective in promoting shared economic prosperity.

Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin said that Korea and Russia were maintaining constructive relations, adding that he looked forward to its further enhancement. He also said that, following the visit to Russia by a Korean special envoy, the two countries have striven together to come up with various ways to cooperate.

In response, President Moon said that Russia was very important, and thus, he had sent an envoy to the country immediately after his election. Saying that he had had a conversation over the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the President said he looked forward to a one-on-one meeting with him on the sidelines of the G20 Summit. The President went on to express the hope that Russia and Korea would become partners in resolving the North Korean nuclear issue and promoting peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia. In this connection, the President revealed his intentions to have heart-to-heart discussions on how to work together at a meeting with President Putin.  

Nurlan Nigmatulin, Chairman of the Mazhilis, the lower house of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, congratulated President Moon on the fact that Korea has become a leading nation in the technological progress of the 21st century. The chairman went on to say that it was about time to establish a global partnership against terrorism, hoping that the speakers meeting would provide opportunities to implement these ideas. The Chairman said views over economic and cultural issues and issues facing young adults also needed to be discussed. 

President Moon said there were many ethnic Koreans living in Central Asia, including Kazakhstan, and he felt close to Kazakhstan like a brotherly country. The President continued to say that he agreed with the need for international coordination to end terrorism, adding that Korea would actively participate in such efforts. Mentioning that Korea achieved economic growth and democracy at the same time, the President expressed the hope that Korea would be able to share its experiences with other nations and further enhance cooperation with Kazakhstan.

Chairman Volodin said that Sergey Ten, a Russian legislator and third-generation ethnic Korean, was visiting Korea together as a member of the Parliamentary delegation, stressing the strong historical ties between Korea and Russia. The Chairman added that Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was looking forward to meeting President Moon in person and asked him to work to promote bilateral relations.

Finally, President Moon noted that even though Russia and China shared borders with Korea, people could not use land routes but had to use sea and air routes instead. The President expressed the hope that Russia and China would be able to help so that they could be connected with Korea through land routes, including railways, allowing people to move across the region. The President added that Russia and China have maintained amicable relations with North Korea and have influenced it, hoping that they would play a more active role in dealing with the North.