Seoul envoy presents accreditation letters

Seoul envoy presents accreditation letters

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto yesterday called on developing and industrialized countries in the Asia-Pacific region to cooperate in their efforts to redress any remaining development level imbalances.

"Through the APEC forum, a partnership between advanced economies and developing economies could be fostered to answer the rapidly changing economic challenges in the region and the world," Soeharto said in a speech after accepting the credential letters of a new South Korean ambassador.

Both Indonesia and South Korea are members of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum that groups 18 industrialized and developing countries in the region.

Soeharto said that relations between the two countries have become more important than ever because there are still stark disparities between industrialized countries and developing countries. "It is the responsibility of all nations to use the globalization era to develop cooperation to create an economic and political order that better promotes the welfare of all humankind."

Ambassador Min Hyung-ki was one of three foreign envoys who presented their credential letters separately to President Soeharto at Merdeka Palace yesterday. The other two were Sri Lanka ambassador Ratne Deshapriya Senanayake and Brazilian ambassador Jadiel Ferreira de Oliveira.

Min, 59, who started his diplomatic career more than three decades ago, was the deputy minister of foreign affairs for planning and management in Seoul prior to his posting here.

Married with three children, Min obtained a master's degree in law from Korea University in Seoul in 1962. He joined the foreign ministry in 1963 and has since held various important positions, including the director general for European affairs. (emb)