Martin Uden

Meeting Kim Dae-Jung

I normally don't say much about the many private meetings that I hold in Seoul, but this morning I called on Kim Dae-jung, former President of Korea and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.  I went to see him to thank him for his continued attention to the imprisonment of his fellow Peace Prize recipient, Aung San Suu Kyi, and specifically for his contribution to the website set up for ASSK's 64th birthday.

We discussed Secretary-General Ban's visit to Burma tomorrow and the sad fact the ASSK's trial is to resume the same day.  It was encouraging to see the very clear focus that President Kim has on the plight of ASSK and his strong support for pro-democracy elements there.  Coming from a man who did so much to bring democracy to Korea, I found it truly heartening. 
President Kim kindly agreed that I could mention our conversation and his staunch support for the people of Burma.

Posted at 17:19 02 July 2009 by Martin Uden  |  Comments[0]

Oxfam, Korea, Vietnam and the UK

I little knew that Oxfam would be the link to bring together Korea, Vietnam and the UK, but I was delighted to take part in a small celebration of a joint project this week.

A charity here called the Beautiful Store has a very similar approach to Oxfam in the UK, raising funds through second hand shops and using the money raised for projects in Korea and overseas.  It does not run the overseas projects itself, but instead donates money to Oxfam to help their work.  In fact, I had been involved with Beautiful Store here, donating various things to it, but not realising this connection with Oxfam GB.  Beautiful Store has donated over £250,000 for Oxfam’s projects in South Asia, and has pledged a further £150,000 this year.

The celebration I mentioned was to mark a project in Vietnam to improve education for girls and minority groups in Lao Cai, a remote region near the border with China.  My Vietnamese colleague and I made short speeches to thank Beautiful Store, although for the most part I spoke about the great work that Oxfam has done over the years and continues to do.

You can read more about the project here. It really is such a turn-around that within a generation Korea has moved from being an aid recipient to become a supporter of other countries less prosperous than itself – and that Koreans themselves support ventures like Beautiful Store, which after just seven years in existence now has over 100 stores country-wide.

Posted at 17:46 16 June 2009 by Martin Uden  |  Comments[0]

In Remembrance of President Roh Moo-hyun

I first heard about President Roh’s death when my wife telephoned me minutes after it was announced on Saturday morning.  She was in Namdaemun market and she said an eerie quiet was descending over the entire market as people got messages on their cell phones and then rushed to watch the nearest TV.  The sense of shock was almost palpable.  Whatever problems he was facing, his apparent suicide (and the TV news on Saturday morning vacillated for some time as to how to describe it) left people stunned.

Both HM The Queen and Gordon Brown sent condolence messages quickly over the weekend.  President Roh’s visit to London in 2004 was in fact the first ever State Visit by the President of the Republic of Korea to the UK and was a real (and overdue) milestone in the relationship between the two countries.  For the Embassy as a whole, there was another personal feeling of loss since the President’s daughter, Jeong-yeon, worked here before her father was elected.  Our hearts go out to the entire family.

(Photo: HM The Queen and former President Roh Moo-hyun in 2004 State Visit to the UK)

Posted at 11:29 25 May 2009 by Martin Uden  |  Comments[2]

World’s Mayors Meet in Seoul to Tackle Climate Change

Right now in Seoul, the City Government is hosting a meeting of Mayors on climate change, now known as the C40.  The first meeting was held in London in 2005, the second in New York two years ago, and the third is going on now.  Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, has been here for the meeting and came out a day in advance so that he could look at Seoul’s Olympic sites from 1988 and bang the drum for investment in London and for the Olympic and Paralympics Games of 2012.

Interesting to see how Boris recorded his visit on Twitter and through his new ‘phlogs’.  I think he certainly found food for thought from the way Seoul has kept its Olympic sites alive and vibrant.  The swimming pool was amazing.  Both the 50 metre pool and the diving pool were simply packed – hundreds of swimmers doing laps – and apparently it’s like that all day from morn till late at night.  There was a BBC London team filming him – worth a look at the coverage.

It was interesting to hear Bill Clinton give the keynote at the start of the C40 conference.  Although Al Gore has become identified rather more with the climate change theme, Clinton was clearly just as passionate about it.  As Boris said on his tweets, Clinton was very complimentary about some of the projects in London – and of course the whole idea of a conference like this is to exchange best practice among the cities.

Events like the C40 are important for showing that there are people around the world who are serious about the risks and opportunities presented by climate change. Bill Clinton particularly stressed the imperfections of the Kyoto Protocol and the need – as we get closer to the crucial UN meeting in Copenhagen in December – to work together to generate momentum for an ambitious agreement.

London Mayor Boris Johnson

Posted at 15:56 20 May 2009 by Martin Uden  |  Comments[0]

A British activist for Korean liberty

This week saw a commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the death of Ernest Bethell, a name all but unknown in his homeland, but truly revered in Korea.  He was a British journalist who came to cover the Russo-Japanese War in 1904 for the Daily Chronicle and stayed on to found Korea’s first independent newspapers – the Daehan Maeil Shinbo and its English-language sibling the Korea Daily News.  The role of a foreigner was crucial at the time since although Japan had established a protectorate over Korea and so controlled the press for the most part, Britons such as Bethell were subject to British law thanks to the then-common extraterritorial  provisions of treaties between Korea and foreign powers.  The Japanese therefore couldn’t stop his newspapers and the criticism of Japanese rule that was printed in them.  The close relationship at the time between Japan and Britain, however, eventually meant that a British consular court did take action against him, although to my predecessor’s eternal credit (the British Consul-General at the time, Henry Cockburn) he left Korea soon after the case and resigned from the Foreign Service.

A lot of historical background, but the freedom of the press is far from just a historical issue.  The ceremony I took part in to honour his memory was graced by memorial wreathes sent by the Korean President and Prime Minister and UN Secretary-General Ban.  Even if Bethell is not much known back in Britain, he is certainly respected here as a true Korean patriot and a leader in Korea’s struggle for independence and for freedom of expression.

Posted at 16:30 11 May 2009 by Martin Uden  |  Comments[1]

Visit by Rotherham Borough Council

In many countries, there are plentiful civic linkages and partnerships with regular visits back and forth between the towns.  But, not surprisingly, sheer distance between the UK and Korea means that there are very few such tie-ups between us.  So it was nice to get a note from Denis MacShane, MP, telling me that the Borough Council in his constituency of Rotherham was sending a delegation to a city close to Seoul.  I was able to have a long talk with them towards the end of their visit.

They had all found the visit truly worthwhile.  As so often, they discovered many things to admire and would hope to emulate in Korea, but also found reasons to be proud of what they do back in Rotherham.  I was able to point them towards the excellent Korean faculty nearby in the University of Sheffield, but we also hope that the connections made can lead to an increase in trade, investment and scientific links between Korea and Rotherham.  We will be able to follow up with someone from our UK Trade and Investment team visiting them to get down into more detail.

It was a long way to come for these local representatives, but I think they are so wise to appreciate that although the answers to many problems can be found at home, the insights gained from looking outside can often make those answers easier to find.  It’s also far from likely that the UK can pull itself out of the current economic crisis without exploiting our skills in international trade and investment. I’d be delighted to see more visits like this.

Posted at 16:48 01 May 2009 by Martin Uden  |  Comments[3]

Hahoe remembers HM Queen Elizabeth

In April 1999, Her Majesty’s birthday fell during her State Visit to Korea, and on that day, she visited the traditional Korean village of Hahoe, which is close to the city of Andong.  The villagers are enormously grateful for this visit since it propelled their small village (population a little over 300) into something of an international spotlight.  Since 1999, over 10 million tourists have visited Hahoe, giving it some real prosperity at a time when many villages – and Hahoe itself – find it hard to retain their younger generations, with smaller family sizes and the attractions of urban life. 

I had never been to Hahoe before and I was delighted to be invited to attend the tenth anniversary celebrations of the visit last week.  Hahoe’s distance from Seoul is no doubt part of the reason why it has kept its character, and it was almost a four-hour trip by train and car to get there: but well worth it.  A really charming place although work has clearly been done to accommodate the touristic influx.  But unlike most folk villages in Korea, this is not an artificial creation, but owes its continued existence in part to its remoteness, and in part to the fact that the Ryu clan regard it as their ancestral home, and that the Ryus are determined to keep it as their home.   As was explained to me, they don’t keep their houses in the traditional way for tourists’ benefit, but because that’s the way they always have.

So a lovely day, but sadly for me I had to go straight to hospital when I got back to Seoul. I’d been in quite some discomfort, especially sitting on the floor over lunch, and apparently I am currently having an attack of bursitis in my hip.  Since the life of a diplomat involves not just a lot of sitting at a desk, but also sitting at formal meals, speeches and the like, I hope it clears up quickly…

Posted at 17:01 27 April 2009 by Martin Uden  |  Comments[1]

One step closer to London

This week, we have a guest blog from Jeehyun Ahn, a Press and Public Affairs Officer at the British Embassy Seoul.  Jeehyun is blogging about her trip to London to work as a Media Delegation Liaison Officer at the London Summit.

One step closer to London

I work for the British Embassy in Seoul as a Press and Public Affairs Officer and I was sent to the London Summit to work as a Media Delegation Liaison Officer. My job at the Summit was to work with the FCO press department to assist the official media delegation from the Republic of Korea.

On 1st April, the team of 25 Media Delegation Officers, including myself, had a briefing from the FCO and a walk-through of the Media Centre at the Excel Centre. I was surprised to see just how tight the security was. Police had set up barricades and checkpoints within an 800 metre radius of the ExCel Centre and anyone without a pass was not allowed in. That night, all the Media Delegation Officers worked through the night in preparation for the next day!

At 6 am, the Summit itself began! I met the Korean delegation at 6 am at the Accreditation and Security point and escorted them to the Media Centre. After the VVIPs had arrived, the Media Centre where I was based started getting extremely busy. I had to assist all the Korean media with their requests and escort them to numerous media events. Over the course of the day, I was lucky enough to be involved in the bilateral meeting between US President Obama and Korean President Lee Myung-bak, an interview with Bob Geldof and the press conference of Prime Minister Gordon Brown. At the beginning, it was incredibly busy and slightly stressful; unexpected things happened throughout the day and we had to change our plans at the last minute. But everything turned out to be a real success at the end...

I found my experience at the Summit enjoyable and rewarding. Apart from the fact that I shared the most exciting three days in my entire life with good friends from 25 different countries, I also now feel closer to London and the FCO.

Posted at 17:51 09 April 2009 by Martin Uden  |  Comments[0]

DPRK Rocket Launch

It was a tense weekend for Embassy staff as we waited for the DPRK to launch their satellite.  I was at the airport on Saturday morning waiting to welcome President Lee Myung-bak back from London when the DPRK’s Korean Central News Agency announced that all the preparations were complete for the launch.   But instead of launching then, it was Sunday before the launch went ahead. 

We had already discussed the proposed launch with the Korean government here at the highest levels: in a bilateral meeting with President Lee in London last week, Prime Minister Gordon Brown spoke of the UK’s serious concerns over any launch by the DPRK. Regardless of whether the rocket carried a satellite or not, such a launch would be a clear breach of UN Security Council Resolution 1718, as it contributed directly to a ballistic missile programme.

When the launch did take place on Sunday, Foreign Secretary David Miliband released a statement  immediately condemning the launch, and colleagues in New York reacted to the Japanese request for a meeting of the UN Security Council.  Here in Seoul, we made sure of our facts, checked with various contacts and sent a short report to London.  For now, the main focus of action now is going to be in New York, but we will also need to continue to monitor and report local reactions here.

Posted at 17:22 06 April 2009 by Martin Uden  |  Comments[0]

Games Workshop and Korea

I have to declare an interest, having sunk hundreds of pounds into Games Workshop(GW), buying their products for my two sons over the years.  Indeed, my elder son worked at the Games Workshop branch in San Francisco for a few months.  But that actually has nothing to do with why I got involved in an event for GW this week in the Embassy.

Games Workshop is a British game production and retailing company which is one of the largest wargame companies in the world. Games Workshop, in common with dozens of other UK companies every year, had commissioned a report and some work from our UK Trade & Investment section in the Embassy.  They already had one outlet selling their products in Korea, but hoped to expand in this market where they see considerable potential.  As part of this service, our team identified potential partners and relevant journalists to come along to a presentation in the Embassy and see what it is all about.  I was very happy to give a short introduction.  I admit I’ve never had to speak about miniature wargaming in Korean before, so it’s expanded my vocabulary a bit!

As the picture shows, we had a very good turnout and GW were delighted at the response, which included some good press coverage.  I hope it turns into some solid business for them.

I would just add that in hard economic times, studies show that it’s exporting firms who are better able to weather the storms than companies that don’t export.  And now must be the right time for UK firms to be looking for new markets overseas.

Posted at 16:14 03 April 2009 by Martin Uden  |  Comments[3]

An important time for a Ministerial visit

The Foreign Office Minister who covers Korea, Bill Rammell, visited Seoul last week.  His previous Ministerial jobs have meant that he has visited Seoul a few times before. He is also the only UK Minister to have made an official visit to Pyongyang (in 2004), so he has a solid understanding of the situation on the Korean peninsula.  He had a very full programme, focused mainly on the economic crisis, preparations for the London Summit and North Korea’s plans for a satellite launch.

What struck me more than anything was the considerable interest here in what the Minister had to say.  At the speeches he gave – one at Sungkyunkwan university, one at a business lunch – there were lots of interesting questions and the response we had at more informal occasions – at a reception with students and at a meeting with Embassy staff – there was an unusually good and stimulating debate.  The picture taken of the Minister up at Panmunjom on the Demilitarised Zone shows there was even some interest from the North Korean military!

Of course the issues being discussed are of real and current concern.  In Seoul especially, people are understandably concerned about the financial crisis and about relations with North Korea.  I hope that the result of these useful exchanges is that the Koreans know more about our plans for the London Summit on 2 April and that the Minister is better informed about South Korean views on the possibility of North Korea launching a rocket in the next few weeks. 

Posted at 14:55 23 March 2009 by Martin Uden  |  Comments[2]

Guest Blogger-Peter Hughes, British Ambassador to North Korea

I am delighted to have been asked to contribute a few paragraphs about Pyongyang to Martin Uden's blog while he is away taking a well earned break.

Spring seems to have arrived in Pyongyang, much the same as I suppose it has in Seoul. The weather during the weekend was relatively warm and sunny for the elections of  the 12th Supreme People's Assembly that took place on Sunday 8 March. There was a very festive atmosphere throughout the city. Many people were walking to or from the polling stations, or thronging the parks to have picnics or just stroll. Most of the ladies were dressed in the colourful traditional hanguk pokshik and the men in their best suits. Outside the central polling stations there were bands playing and people dancing and singing to entertain the queues of voters waiting patiently to select their representatives in the country's unicameral legislature. The booths selling drinks and snacks were very popular with the crowds and everyone seemed to be having a good time. The list of successful candidates was published on Monday. There was a reported turn-out of over 99% of the voters and all the candidates, including Kim Jong Il, were elected with 100% approval. In a few weeks time the Supreme People's Assembly will open for business which will include voting for the Chairman of the National Defence Committee (presently Kim Jong Il), and drawing up the budget for the coming financial year.

The city has returned to normal since the weekend, and people are going about their business much as they usually do. However, the sunny weather and warmer temperatures have encouraged the parks and roadside verges to begin turning green again after the long winter. During the afternoons, long columns of schoolchildren can be seen marching through the streets in their blue uniforms with red neckerchiefs, carrying red banners and flags that encourage the people to launch a "general offensive in response to the Party's call to make a historic leap on all fronts, and sounding the advance for opening the gate to a strong, powerful and prosperous nation in 2012, the centenary of the birth of the Great Eternal Leader Kim Il Sung". The children sing songs and chant slogans as they either walk gaily hand in hand, or march solemnly by.

There has been a lot of activity preparing the small plots of land around blocks of apartments for sowing a spring crop of vegetables and herbs, and last week the government announced a nationwide 'reforestation' programme under which millions of saplings are to be planted throughout the country. The people in Pyongyang have taken this programme very seriously and have planted young trees every six metres or so along all the pavements, and within the apartment complexes. Every evening people can be seen tending the saplings they put into the ground just a few days ago, while at intervals ladies are sitting selling cigarettes or sweets from small tables they have set up by the roadside.

Posted at 15:28 13 March 2009 by Martin Uden  |  Comments[29]

The Olympics – getting closer

I wrote the first of what I’m sure will be many blogs on the Olympics last September just after the Beijing Games.  The global mood has certainly changed since then, but the preparations for the London Games have continued apace. The Games are a fantastic opportunity for the UK as a whole, and particularly for those businesses that will be contributing to the supply chain.  It is estimated that there are still some 70,000 contracts to be awarded valued at around £8bn (US$11.5bn or over KRW 17 trillion).  The opportunities will arise across a range of sectors, from transport, merchandising and ICT, to logistics, security and construction.  I’ve found some surprise that we are encouraging foreign bids for this work, but clearly this is the best way to ensure we get the best value for money and the best Games in the end. I’d certainly be delighted to see as many Korean companies as possible competing for and winning these contracts.

A website – www.competefor.com – has been established to publicise Games-related contract opportunities. It acts as a brokerage service between buyers and potential suppliers.  Any business in the UK, whether foreign or domestic owned, can use the CompeteFor brokerage service as a buyer or supplier of Games-related goods and services. Do give it a try.  If you have problems or questions, the Inward Investment Team in the Embassy stands ready to help as well. Tom Matlock (tom.matlock@fco.gov.uk) can help with this or any other assistance for companies that wish to expand their business into the UK.

Of course, there is much more to the Olympics than just opportunities to showcase world class business expertise.  Over the months to come, I will be blogging further on this topic, but for an introductory flavour of what will be on offer, why not take a glance at this promotional video on the website of Visit Britain.  

Posted at 11:34 06 March 2009 by Martin Uden  |  Comments[5]

A Korean Wedding

In spite of the years I’ve been in Korea, this was the first traditional Korean wedding I have attended.  One of the Embassy staff got married this weekend and was kind enough to invite all of the Embassy to witness this lovely occasion.  Han Jiyeon, who works in the UK Trade & Investment Section of the Embassy, and Simon Ferry were the happy couple. 

This particular wedding took place in Seoul in a spot that aims to keep Korean traditions alive.  So there was some entertainment before the ceremony – a farmers’ dance and a fan dance (see video below).  At the beginning of the ceremony, Jiyeon and Simon exchanged a pair of wooden mandarin ducks, which symbolise fidelity according to traditional Korean custom. The ceremony itself consists of many bows between the couple and the sampling of various food and drink.  They say not a word, and get no closer than 6 yards to each other.  But at the end, no matter what the form of the ceremony, some things stay the same – the bride’s smile shone through her tears of happiness and Simon looked to be the happiest man on earth.

Posted at 12:02 26 February 2009 by Martin Uden  |  Comments[0]

A break from politics

This weekend saw a trip out of Seoul, down to Geoje island – just off the south coast of Korea, oddly enough almost exactly the same size as the Isle of Wight.  Geoje, however, is home to a vibrant shipbuilding industry with two large shipyards – Samsung and DSME (Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering) – and some smaller ones.  This in turn means a fair-sized population of engineers and surveyors overseeing some of the work.  Lloyd’s Register gets a good part of this work, and in keeping with a long engineering and shipbuilding tradition a good number of the employees are Scots, which means a good reason to celebrate there the 250th anniversary of the birth of Scotland’s national poet, Robert Burns.  My wife and I had duly celebrated the anniversary the previous week in Seoul, and this time we went down to Geoje by bus, a journey a bit over four hours. In fact there were more people celebrating Burns’ Night in Geoje than there had been in Seoul, but both were excellent parties.

One of the abiding fascinations of bus and train rides in Korea is the ever-present reminders of the enormous population density.  The UK always seems pretty packed, and at 246 people per sq km, it’s second only to the Netherlands in European countries (excluding city states and islands) but South Korea, with a high proportion of its land too mountainous for habitation, has 498 per sq km.  You’re hardly ever out of sight of human habitation.  But aside from signs of the living, in Korea you’re also hardly ever out of sight of signs of the dead.  Almost every hill (and there are really a lot of them in Korea) has one or more grave mounds, taking over the hills as soon as the gradient or the soil makes cultivation impossible.  I have taken a photo shot of some of the burial mounds from one of the coach rest stops. You’ll see that the graves are not walled away and often forgotten as they are in the West, but rather are an ever-present reminder of ancestors and continuity.

Posted at 15:50 09 February 2009 by Martin Uden  |  Comments[0]