Martin Uden

Remembrance Service in Seoul

Our annual Remembrance Service in Seoul is simple but moving.  It remains an important part of the rhythm of our year, especially because it often happens - as this year - that we are joined by a Veteran of the Korean War who reads the act of remembrance from Laurence Binyon's, "For the Fallen."  It is also for us very much a Commonwealth occasion, when we are joined by other Commonwealth Ambassadors, and the Veteran who read was from Canada.

from http://www.gettyimages.com/

Posted at 12:13 09 November 2009 by Martin Uden  |  Comments[0]

A ridiculously busy week

Sometimes in spite of whatever planning you might attempt, visitors do have a habit of coming all at once.  So it was this week.  I realized at the end of it, that in the space of seven days, I didn’t have a single normal breakfast to myself, I managed one lunch at home and ate every dinner out or with guests at home.  But it was all worth while.

The visitors were first the British Ambassador from Pyongyang, Peter Hughes.  He’s been there for over a year now and this was his first opportunity to get to Seoul to exchange views and information about the DPRK, in a way that is hardly possible in Pyongyang.  So he saw a good mix of governmental, military, academic and diplomatic contacts in a crowded three-day programme.

Overlapping with him was Mr Quentin Davies, who is the Minister for Defence Equipment and Supply at the UK Ministry of Defence.  The main reason for his visit was the Seoul Air Show, and he also saw his opposite numbers and gave a speech about the procurement of defence equipment.

In fact, all three of the visitors were here on the Wednesday of the week, so I was a bit torn three ways.  The final visitor was Professor Alison Richard, the vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University.  Of course the Embassy wasn’t responsible for organizing her programme in the way we did for the other two, but I hosted a reception at my house for Cambridge alumni and attended two other events with the vice-Chancellor.

There can be times that diplomacy can appear to be a high-class travel agency, catering and hotel business.  Those aspects actually are important to be sure visitors get the most out of their time overseas, but it’s always important to keep in mind just why and how visits like this contribute to the Embassy’s objectives.  This week
• we’ve learned more than we did before about how the Republic of Korea currently assesses the stance of the DPRK and what the next moves might be in relations between North and South Korea;
• we’ve explored the possibilities of further partnerships between the UK and Korea in the defence sector, including some projects with European and US partners;
• we’ve encouraged Cambridge alumni to remember their alma mater in the year of its 800th birthday, reminded many influential Koreans of the excellence of UK science and academic endeavour and persuaded young Koreans to consider studying at Cambridge – including through the joint scholarship scheme announced last week with the FCO’s Chevening programme.

from gettyimages

Posted at 16:38 26 October 2009 by Martin Uden  |  Comments[1]

Manchester United's visit to Seoul

In so many ways, one of Britain’s greatest strengths from Chaucer onwards has been its culture.  In recent times that has become an economic and export driver.  The latest Harry Potter film is a very clear example of this, but so too was the tour to the Far East, including Korea, by Manchester United.  Their worldwide commercial success has been remarkable, quite apart from their achievements on the football field.  It was the same last Friday.  In front of a capacity crowd at Seoul’s World Cup stadium, Man U beat FC Seoul 3-2 in what turned out to be an exciting match. 

For me it was also fascinating that the team takes such great care to foster its public image and was accompanied by two of the great names of the team’s past – Sir Bobby Charlton and Bryan Robson.  But for the Seoul crowd, there was really only one name on their lips – Park Ji-sung.  Although he didn’t start the match, he came on in the second half, which was really what the crowd wanted to see.  He is such a well-known figure in Korea, and the nation is very proud of his achievement in playing for Man U.

One other footballing issue that both countries share is that both Korea and England are bidding to stage the World Cup in 2018/2022.  It’s clear that both countries have tremendously strong bids, based above all on the strong fan base and the high standard of the home leagues.

Posted at 13:47 27 July 2009 by Martin Uden  |  Comments[2]

"Blood and Bamboo"

A bit unusual to do a book review in my blog, but I received a copy of James Church’s latest Inspector O novel, “Blood and Bamboo,” before Christmas and have only just finished it.  Church is apparently a “former Western intelligence officer” – and I can honestly say that’s all I know about his identity.  

This is his third mystery about a North Korean police inspector, but this is the first I’ve read.  I’m told that this isn’t a bad place to start, since chronologically this one is set back in the 90s during the severe famine that hit North Korea and so gives some background to the other stories.  The Inspector is sent to various places to piece together a mystery surrounding the murder of the wife of a North Korean diplomat.  A lot of the plot takes place in Geneva, centring on negotiations then going on between the DPRK and the USA on missile proliferation. The image of the leader of the DPRK negotiations trying to find anybody in his team who was awake and listening to a particularly tedious part of the talks is all too realistic.  But what impressed me most about the book was just how credible a picture it painted of Pyongyang and the grim struggle for survival that must have been the reality of North Korea during the 90s.

I'd be very interested in your thoughts about the book, or Church's other two novels.  Especially if you have been to North Korea, do they strike you as realistic, or should we just take them as decent thrillers instead of thinking we are learning anything about Pyongyang from them?

Posted at 04:52 16 January 2009 by Martin Uden  |  Comments[1]