First part of the working visit by Xavier Bettel and Stéphanie Obertin to the Republic of Korea

Official inauguration of the Luxembourg resident embassy in Seoul

The official inauguration of the Luxembourg resident embassy in Seoul, in the presence of the two ministers, marked the first part of the visit.

Minister Bettel welcomed this inauguration, which will strengthen relations between the two countries in the political, economic, cultural and research fields.

The Minister also welcomed the decision of the Korean authorities to open a resident embassy in Luxembourg.

These positive developments bear witness to the close friendship between Luxembourg and South Korea – a long-standing ally, member of the G20 and sharing the same democratic values.

Exhibition "Luxembourg's volunteers in the Korean War"

The ministers also attended the opening ceremony of the exhibition "Luxembourg's volunteers in the Korean War". This exhibition, designed by the National Museum of Military History in Diekirch, will be on display at the War Memorial in Seoul during the months of July, August and September 2024.

In his speech, Minister Bettel stressed the need to teach history, particularly through exhibitions of this kind, so that we never forget the importance of peace and respect for international law. He paid tribute to the memory of the 85 Luxembourg volunteers who, under a UN mandate, fought alongside the armed forces of the Republic of Korea to repel the aggression of the North Korean army in 1950. Two of these Luxembourg soldiers were killed in action and 16 were wounded. This was the only military intervention after 1945 in which Luxembourg sent soldiers to the front.

Economy and research still at the heart of the programme

In addition to these two solemn events, Minister Bettel had a bilateral meeting with the Minister for Patriots and Veterans, Mr Kang Jung-Ai. He also held talks with the heads of Korean industrial companies and attended a conference on Luxembourg as an entry platform for Korean information and communication technologies and for the space ecosystem, with a particular focus on cybersecurity and a data-based economy.

The programme by Stéphanie Obertin, Minister for Research and Higher Education, was also part of the strengthening of bilateral relations between Luxembourg and South Korea, with the aim of promoting cooperation in the fields of research and innovation.

As part of the development of research cooperation in the field of precision and data-based medicine, particularly for the benefit of cancer patients, the Minister met the Mayor of Goyang and visited the National Cancer Centre (NCC) in Goyang. She attended the signing of memorandums of understanding between the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH) and the city of Goyang as well as the NCC with a view to this cooperation. She also visited the Samsung Medical Centre (SMC) and in particular its Institute for Research on Medicine of the Future.

Another area of potential cooperation is space research. The Minister visited the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology and its dust-free thermal vacuum chamber, the largest in the world.

Press release by the Ministry for Research and Higher Education and the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Defence, Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade