President Moon Jae-in, who is currently making a state visit to Sweden, held a summit with Prime Minister Stefan Löfven this morning (local time) at the Grand Hotel Saltsjöbaden. They discussed how to expand bilateral cooperation.

Noting Saltsjöbaden, the venue of today’s summit, President Moon said, “It is truly meaningful for me to hold a summit with the Prime Minister at this historic venue where the destiny of the world’s finest welfare state was determined through a grand compromise between labor and management.” 

Speaking of Sweden’s five-term Social Democrat Riksdag representative Kent Härstedt, who was appointed special envoy to the Korean Peninsula in 2017 by his country’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs, President Moon said, "I extend my gratitude to the Swedish Government for its full support for my Administration's Korean Peninsula peace process and playing a constructive role by arranging meetings among chief negotiators from both Koreas and the United States and designating a special envoy." 

In reply, Sweden’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Margot Wallström said that the trust-building steps President Moon is taking for peace on the Peninsula deserve high praise and emphasized the significance of utilizing the Swedish special envoy to the Peninsula.  

Speaking of the ILO core conventions in relation to the Korea-EU FTA, Prime Minister Löfven said that he had heard that the Korean Government is seeking to ratify the key conventions, which he would see as a huge sign. 

President Moon replied, “Ratification of the ILO core conventions is not only one of my campaign pledges, but it also constitutes a change in the overall paradigm in Korea.” He explained that his Administration had already presented its stance and schedule before the National Assembly. The President went on to say, “I believe that the Swedish Government’s policy of pursuing growth and innovation in parallel has something in common with my governing philosophy of aiming to build an innovative, inclusive nation.” He proposed that the two countries continue to expand high-level exchanges and other forms of bilateral cooperation.