President Jokowi Receives South Korean Special Envoy

President Jokowi receives Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon as a Special Envoy of President of South Korea at Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java, Tuesday (23/5) sore. (Photo by: Public Relations Division/Agung)

President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo on Tuesday (23/5) at Bogor Presidential Palace in West Java received Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon as a Special Envoy of the new President of South Korea Moon Jae-in.

Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi, who accompanied the President on that occasion, told reporter that during the meeting, a number of bilateral cooperation were discussed.

“So the point of the message that the Envoy carried was the commitment of the new South Korean government to continue promoting relations with Indonesia as a major country in ASEAN, and certainly with ASEAN as a community,” Retno said to reporters after the meeting.

During the meeting, the Minister added, the Envoy also said that during the G-20 meeting in Hamburg, Germany in July this year, President Moon would like to hold a bilateral meeting with President Jokowi.

“In addition, the Envoy also conveyed commitment for investment in trade and other economic cooperation,” Retno said.

The Minister added that South Korea is one of the most important partners for Indonesia, be it for trade and investment, and is even the third biggest investor in Indonesia.

“Therefore, the Special Envoy also carried the message about the commitment of the new South Korean government to boost cooperation in the economic sector, especially in trade and investment,” Retno said.

As for the concrete forms of the cooperation, Retno said the cooperation is already made; nevertheless, she said that because South Korea has a new government in which President Moon was just inaugurated on 10 May, the sending of the Envoy was like a ‘renewal of commitment’.

“So we have the commitment already. The cooperation is already strong but due to the transition of the government, the South Korean government considers it necessary to send a Special Envoy to renew the commitment from the new government,” Retno said.

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, Retno said, is also the South Korean special envoy for ASEAN.

“South Korean President has also appointed a special envoy for ASEAN. And it certainly shows the commitment form South Korea to promote relations with ASEAN,” Retno concluded. (DNA/DND/ES) (Naster/YM/EP)