President Park Geun-hye is scheduled to visit the Netherlands to attend the Nuclear Security Summit March 23-25 and make a state visit to Germany March 25-28.

Attendance at Nuclear Security Summit

President Park Geun-hye will attend the third Nuclear Security Summit to be held in The Hague, the Netherlands March 24-25.

The Nuclear Security Summit is the largest multilateral forum on security that brings together 53 heads of state and government as well as the leaders of four major international organizations—the United Nations, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the European Union and Interpol. Following the first summit in 2010 in Washington D.C. and the second in 2012 in Seoul, the upcoming summit is expected to take stock of the progress made by the international community to reduce nuclear terror threats around the world and discuss global cooperative measures to continue to strengthen nuclear security.

At the opening session on March 24, President Park is scheduled to deliver remarks in her capacity as the head of state of the chair nation of the previous summit. She is anticipated to highlight the common responsibility of the international community in preventing nuclear terrorism, a grave threat to peace and safety across the globe. She will also outline the direction of future developments for the international nuclear security regime under the vision of realizing a world without nuclear weapons.

The next day, President Park will attend the plenary meeting, which will last into the afternoon. There, she is expected to present what Korea has done and is committed to doing to make substantive contributions to enhancing nuclear security, thereby pointing to Korea’s leadership in global efforts for nuclear security. She will also exchange views with the participating heads of state and government about the future of the Nuclear Security Summit after the 2016 meeting.

On the sidelines of the Summit, President Park will hold one-on-one talks with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on March 24 to discuss key regional and global issues as well as ways to promote mutually beneficial and substantive cooperation between Korea and the Netherlands. Following their summit, President Park will attend a special luncheon hosted by His Majesty King Willem-Alexander.

State Visit to Germany

From the Netherlands, President Park will head to Germany for a state visit March 25-28 at the invitation of German President Joachim Gauck. Her first stop will be Berlin, where she will take part in talks and a luncheon with President Gauck as well as a summit with Chancellor Angela Merkel, followed by a state dinner.

In her meetings with the German President and Chancellor, President Park will engage in in-depth discussions on topics including promotion of trade and investment and advancement of substantive bilateral cooperation in such sectors as industry, SMEs, science, vocational education and culture. Another topic will be the state of affairs on the Korean Peninsula, including cooperation for unification and the North Korean nuclear issue.

While in Berlin, President Park will also be meeting with various figures who played a prominent role in German unification and with Korean and German business leaders.

Afterwards, she will visit Dresden, the economic center of the former East German region and a thriving science and technology hub. She will be the first Korean President to visit the city and her itinerary will include a dinner with the Minister-President of the Free State of Saxony, Stanislaw Tillich, and a tour of the city’s key academic and research institutions.

The President will next visit Frankfurt, the largest city in the State of Hesse and home to a large number of Korean businesses and residents. She will meet with members of the Korean community and attend a dinner hosted by the Minister-President of Hesse, Volker Bouffier.

Germany has become a major leader in the European Union and the largest economic power in Europe, and the President’s state visit will be a valuable opportunity to expand and deepen the friendly cooperative ties that have been maintained for over 130 years. It will also be an important chance to learn from Germany’s experience with unification and integration so that a strong foundation can be established for unification on the Korean Peninsula.

*Source: http://english.president.go.kr (Cheong Wa Dae Website)