President Lee Myung-bak and Spanish King Juan Carlos I exchanged congratulatory letters on March 17 to mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of Korea-Spain diplomatic relations. President Lee noted with satisfaction that Korea and Spain, countries that share such universal values as democracy, market economy and human rights, have developed their relationship into a close cooperative one. Taking note of cooperation on both the bilateral level and the international stage, Spain’s King Carlos hoped for closer ties and the successful hosting of the G20 Seoul Summit this November.

Furthermore, Korea celebrated the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties with Czech as President Lee Myung-bak and his Czech counterpart Vaclav Klaus exchanged congratulatory letters on March 22. President Lee asked for the Czech government’s cooperation in expediting the signing and effectuation of the Korea-EU FTA and Framework Agreement for Trade and Cooperation.

President Lee Myung-bak also exchanged congratulatory letters with his Bulgarian counterpart Georgi Parvanovon on March 23 to mark the 20th anniversary of the establishment of Korea-Bulgaria diplomatic relations. President Lee noted with satisfaction the steady development of Korea-Bulgaria relations in a wide range of fields, including government affairs, economy and trade, information technology (IT), and culture and art.

On March 24, President Lee Myung-bak and his Mongolian counterpart Elbegdorj exchanged congratulatory messages as part of the events for the “Korea Year in Mongolia” marking the 20th anniversary of the establishment of Korea-Mongolia diplomatic relations. The two leaders noted with satisfaction the remarkable development in Korea-Mongolia relations since the forging of a friendly-cooperative partnership in 2006. In particular, they reached an understanding on working to make a success of both the 2010 “Korea Year in Mongolia” and the 2011 “Mongolia Year in Korea.”