By Lee Kap-soo

Following his official visit to the Czech Republic on Sept. 11-13, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo visited Poland on Sept. 13 and 14, where he held a bilateral meeting with the Polish Prime Minister.

He attended the opening events of the Krynica Forum and the Korea-Poland Forum with Polish President Andrzej Duda, and met with President Duda and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda, who are also attending the forum.

On September 13, Prime Minister Han held a bilateral meeting and press briefing with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

Prime Minister Han praised the record high bilateral trade volume of about $9 billion last year, and hoped that the two countries would continue their close cooperation in areas such as nuclear power, defense, infrastructure, and Ukraine reconstruction, which were discussed at the bilateral summit in July, as they celebrate the 10th anniversary of their strategic partnership this year.

Morawiecki assessed that the two countries are expanding their strategic cooperation into areas such as defense and defense cooperation, and expressed his hope that bilateral cooperation will deepen not only into practical cooperation in each field but also to the global level.

Han then traveled to Krynica-Zdrój, Poland, where he attended the opening event of the Krynica Forum on the evening of September 13, alongside Polish President Duda and Lithuanian President Nausėda, and delivered a special speech.

In his speech, Prime Minister Han assessed the development of bilateral relations on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Korea-Poland Strategic Partnership and explained his government's efforts to strengthen partnerships with European countries that share universal values as global pivotal countries.

In addition, Prime Minister Han explained the plan to support Ukraine, totaling $2.3 billion, announced by President Yoon Suk-yeol on September 10 on the sidelines of the G20 Summit, and conveyed the Korean government's willingness to actively participate in the international community's solidarity with Ukraine.

The next day, on the morning of September 14, Prime Minister Han delivered opening remarks alongside Polish President Duda at the Korea-Poland Forum, which was held as one of the main sessions of the Krynica Forum, attended by government and business leaders from both countries.

In his opening remarks, President Duda said that Korea is Poland's closest partner and that bilateral exchanges and cooperation have developed at an unprecedented pace since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1989, and expressed his hope that the two countries will continue to expand their strategic partnership in the future.

In addition, President Duda expressed hope that the two countries will expand reciprocal cooperation in areas such as defense, batteries, nuclear power plants, and transportation infrastructure, and deepen friendship and mutual understanding between the two peoples through expanded people-to-people exchanges.

In his opening remarks, Prime Minister Han cited a Polish proverb that says, "Faith moves mountains," and emphasized that he expects the faith shared by the governments and businesspeople of the two countries through today's forum to make a huge difference in moving the Eurasian continent forward.

The Prime Minister also noted that bilateral cooperation is accelerating in many areas, including culture, supply chain, security, and infrastructure, and that he expects the two countries to build a forward-looking partnership to jointly address global issues.

Shortly after the opening ceremony of the Korea-Poland Forum, Prime Minister Han met with Polish President Duda and expressed his expectation that the two countries will work closely together to accelerate the follow-up on cooperation in the areas of defense, infrastructure, and nuclear power, which were discussed at the Korea-Poland Summit in July.

President Duda expressed satisfaction that bilateral ties are deepening in various fields, and said he will continue to follow up on bilateral cooperation issues with interest so that the results of the last summit can be realized sooner rather than later.

Han then met with Lithuanian President Nausėda, who was also attending the Krynica Forum.

Han assessed the Korea-Lithuania summit held on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in July as a turning point in bilateral relations, and called for cooperation to open the Lithuanian embassy in Korea as soon as possible, while looking forward to continued cooperation in high-tech fields such as bio-IT and defense.

President Nauceda said that he expects the opening of the Lithuanian embassy to further enhance bilateral exchanges and cooperation, and hoped to further diversify the fields of cooperation between the two countries.

Meanwhile, on the morning of September 14, Prime Minister Han held a meeting with the Korean business delegation attending the forum, including Ryu Jin, Chairman of the FKI, and Chung Eui-sun, Chairman of Hyundai Motor Company, and said that the government will continue to pay attention to and actively work to resolve the difficulties of Korean businessmen in expanding overseas.

Prime Minister Han's visit to Poland is considered to have contributed to deepening the Korea-Poland strategic partnership and checking the smooth implementation of bilateral agreements on nuclear power, defense, infrastructure, and Ukraine reconstruction, which were discussed during President Yoon's visit to Poland in July.