Speech at State Dinner in South Korea

Chun Doo HuanMr. President, your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen.

I would like first to thank you, Mr. President, and Mrs. Chun most warmly for the welcome which has been extended to me here in Korea and for your generous hospitality tonight.

There can be few previous examples where [end p1] one Head of Government has carried out a return visit so quickly.

But that only underlines the very great importance which we in Britain attach to our relations with the Republic of Korea, and our determination to give those relations more substance in every field.

The arrangement also has the advantage of allowing us, this morning, to continue the very [end p2] interesting talk which we had when you, Mr. President, made such a successful visit to London, and to develop some of the themes which emerged from it.

At the same time I have been able to gain an impression, to which I shall be able to add tomorrow, of your country.

Even on a visit as brief as this, one can see clearly what immense success the [end p3] Korean people have had in rebuilding the country after the ravages of war only 35 years ago.

This is an achievement which we in Britain greatly admire.

You were accompanied in London, Mr. President, by a large number of Ministers, officials and businessmen, who used the occasion to strengthen their links with their British [end p4] counterparts.

I see many of them around these tables tonight.

I hope that they returned with the conviction that there were considerable possibilities for cooperation between our two countries.

Both our countries live by trade, and both must therefore resist and fight the temptations [end p5] of protectionism.

This is something on which there was clear agreement between us in London.

Korean businessmen find a very open and profitable market for their goods in Britain: British exporters look forward to finding the same in Korea.

But our cooperation has to go much wider than that. We should encourage a marriage between [end p6] British technology and Korean manufacturing skills to produce for the markets of the world.

In this area, of course, Governments cannot usurp the place of business.

Companies have to make their own decisions based on what they see as their best commercial interest.

However, Governments can help the [end p7] businessman's task by making available the necessary information and by creating the conditions which are likely to foster investment.

The businessman and his Korean partner, want to be sure that their product is going to be protected against copying.

We have an interest in the success of your plans. [end p8]

The prosperity which you have already achieved, that which you hope to attain over the next few years, these hopes of cooperation between our two countries, all depend on the maintenance of peace and security.

We, like you, have long understood the importance of being strong and ready to meet an aggressor if we want to deter his attack. [end p9]

We, like you, spend over 5%; of our GNP on defence.

We see it as the price which has to be paid for freedom.

This afternoon I had a glimpse of the threat which you face and of the resolution with which you and your allies are meeting it.

I am very glad to have seen for myself why [end p10] security is—has to be—a matter of such overwhelming importance to you.

The most painful aspect of the division of the country along that cruel line is that those people to the North with their massed troops and weapons, are the same people, of the same blood as yourselves, perhaps even related to some of you round these tables. [end p11]

We support your efforts to open up some sort of dialogue across the line, and hope that they will not always meet with the intransigence which we have seen so far. We maintain that the future of the Korean peninsula is something for Koreans to decide and we hope that your contacts with the North will before long provide a means by which decisions can be taken. [end p12]

Your military preparedness, and your readiness to talk to those who threaten you, provide the guarantees of your freedom, freedom under which the Republic of Korea can and will become a modern industrialized state. Freedom also to build up a society based on the rule of law, and on the freedom of expression.

I recognise the efforts which you are making to create such a society and wish [end p13] you well in them.

Mr. President, when I have completed my visit to your country, I shall be attending the Economic Summit in Tokyo.

We shall be dealing there with issues of concern to the welcome of both our countries: the need to continue prudent financial policies: a new round of trade negotiations: relations between East and [end p14] West: and above all concerted action to deal with the state-sponsored terrorism from which your country too has suffered. I am very glad, Mr. President, to have had this opportunity to consult with you before going to this vitally important meeting.

Our countries have known each other, Mr. President, for one hundred years. [end p15]

Since the end of the Second World War, we have stood by the Republic of Korea on the battlefield and on the world stage.

I venture to say that over the last few weeks, we have made immense strides in the development of our century old relationship.

May I assure you, Mr. President, that my Government will do all that it can to ensure that the momentum is kept up. [end p16]

Mr. President, I thank you for visiting my country, and for making me feel so much at home in yours.

I thank you and Mrs. Chun for your hospitality tonight.

And I invite you all to rise with me and drink to the health of President [Chun Doo Huan] of [end p17] Mrs. Chun, and to friendship between Great Britain and the Republic of Korea.