By Lee Kap-soo

(New Year Message)
Dear readers of the Diplomacy Journal,

On behalf of the Embassy of Georgia to the Republic of Korea, I am delighted to extend our warmest season’s greetings to the friendly people and esteemed Government of the Republic of Korea for the New Year 2024!

We heartily convey our best wishes for abundant success and prosperity to all our Korean friends and partners, the representatives of the Diplomatic Corps and to the readers of the Diplomacy Journal in the upcoming year! 

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations on December 14, 1992, Georgia and Korea have nurtured a meaningful partnership. Korea has become a cherished ally for Georgia in Asia, and similarly, Georgia has been a steadfast friend for Korea in the Caucasus region.

On December 14, 2023, Georgia has been granted a European Union membership candidate status by the European Council. This historic decision is an explicit recognition of Georgia's aspirations, its unwavering strides for many years and a progress achieved in establishing a free, peaceful and democratic Georgia. 

As like-minded states, aiming to advance our cooperation and partnerships in 2024, it is simply incumbent upon us, as responsible members of international community to work together, to stand in close solidarity and shoulder-to-shoulder against persisting grave threats and challenges to our shared values of peace, democracy and the human rights. 

Under the Global Pivotal State (GPS) vision of the Republic of Korea, Georgia commends the ROK’s aims to assume greater responsibilities internationally and to that end, looks forward to broadening and deepening the value-based partnership between Georgia and the Republic of Korea in the years to come. 

Georgia welcomes the decision of the Republic of Korea to open its full-fledged Embassy in Tbilisi in 2024, which will pave the way for deeper and more meaningful diplomatic and cultural exchanges.

Building upon our efforts in 2023, we look forward to substantially elevating our bilateral trade-economic ties with Korea next year, namely through launching official negotiations on the Georgia-Korea Economic Partnership Agreement, including establishing free trade, as well as resuming whole range of bilateral economic cooperation mechanisms, such as talks on bilateral investment treaty, joint intergovernmental economic committee, etc. 

To enhance people-to-people contacts and boost tourism, resumption of direct charter flights between Seoul and Tbilisi is also planned in May-October, 2024, further weaving our cultural and economic ties closer together.

Positioned as a natural bridge at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, Georgia is transforming day-by-day into a multi-dimensional regional hub. Georgia is poised to play a crucial role as a regional hub for energy transit, freight transportation, and digital interconnections, while having initiated several projects of strategic importance for addressing energy security and climate change, including the Black Sea Submarine Electricity Cable and the Anaklia Deep Sea Port project.  

Georgia stands ready to embark on new collaborative ventures with Korea. In this regard, we welcome and are actively seeking the interest of South Korean businesses in greenfield projects to support the utilization of renewable energy, development of transport and logistic services, as well as new technologies, including resource efficient, innovative and clean production.

May our journey of diplomatic collaboration continue to be guided by solidarity, friendship, and a shared vision for a brighter tomorrow!