After his posting as South Korean ambassador to Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova in May 2008, Park Robyug is about to leave Ukraine soon with a wealth of knowledge about this part of the world.
While promoting the South Korean electronics companies and car makers, the ambassador also lent a helping hand to the ethnic Koreans that live on Ukraine’s territory.
In his interview to Kyiv Post Robyug explained what it means to be a South Korean nowadays and why Ukrainians should be happy for what they have. He also talked about the philosophy of South Korean investors who are looking into opportunities in Ukraine.
Kyiv Post: How does the Korean community look like in Ukraine?
Park Robyug: We have two categories of Koreans here. The first is Korean students, businessmen and protestant pastors who came to Ukraine after its independence. They make up around 300 people.
The second category includes so-called “Soviet Koreans” who settled in Ukraine during Soviet times or after its collapse. There are around 35,000 of them and many have already obtained Ukrainian citizenship. Most Soviet Koreans live in southern Ukraine and are involved in agriculture.
They are Koreans by ethnicity, but socially and mentally they resemble Ukrainians. Many also don’t speak the Korean language anymore.
March 1, 1919, marks the beginning of the Korean Independence Movement. On this day, independence fighters announced Korea’s freedom from Japanese colonialism. In response, Japanese police and military forces killed or injured thousands of unarmed protesters. Although it failed, the March 1 Independence Movement created strong bonds of national identity and patriotism among Koreans. (AP)
KP: Considering that most Koreans in Ukraine are descendants of those who were forcefully deported by Joseph Stalin from the Russian-Korean border to Central Asia, could they repatriate to South Korea now?
PR: We tried to repatriate them, but it didn’t work out. Many of them lost their language and have a different mentality [from modern South Koreans]. South Korea now is a free-market economy where one has to work very hard to survive. I feel that ethnic Koreans are more comfortable in Ukraine than in South Korea.
The programs that we have in place now aim to recover some of the lost Korean culture and language. Then they would become the connectors between Ukraine and South Korea.
KP: What do you think is the difference in mentality between Ukrainians and South Koreans?
PR: Ukrainian people enjoy their lives much more, I believe. They can take long vacations – for one month or even two months. Unlike South Koreans, they also don’t have to worry about a typhoon, an earthquake or other natural disasters.
You also don’t need to worry about starvation, because you have fertile land. Ukrainians are really blessed by God to have such a natural environment! South Korea has many human resources, but we don’t have sufficient natural resources. It reflects in our mentality.
That is one of the reasons that Koreans work very hard, long hours and are very serious about their jobs.
KP: Despite the difficulties with the natural environment, South Korea is a developed country. How did you achieve such economic success?
PR: The start was in 1960s-1980s, when South Korea had a cheap labor force. The country focused on manufacturing and exporting cheap goods abroad and then reinvested the profits into business development. In 1997, when the Asian crisis came, South Korea was harshly criticized for collusion between government and business.
From then on we tried to separate the two sides. The government now oversees and gives some insurance to businesses, but doesn’t influence much of its decisions. That’s why, I believe, that the companies like Hundai, LG Electronics, etc., achieved success on the international level.
Now South Korea focuses on developing its domestic market and production of high technology goods or software, which brings good profits.
KP: What about South Korean investment potential? How could you describe the economic relations between our countries?
PR: Our largest investment to Ukraine was made in 1994-1995 with Daewoo car maker and telecommumication, but due to the Asian crisis and some changes in Ukraine, this investment is not functioning anymore.
Korean investors value Ukraine. If they open an office in the Commonwealth of Independent States, it’s usually headquartered in Kyiv. But they also have to be realistic as Ukraine ranks very low on the ease of doing business.
The Ukrainian side wants to see the immediate starting of factories and investment projects, but South Korean investors would like to see more concrete steps in improving economic management first. It’s not easy for Korean businessmen to put a big amount of investment in one or two years.
They always go slowly, cautiously, but with a balanced approach.
Some 40-50 mid-ranking Ukrainian officials also had an opportunity to go to South Korea and learn about the economic reforms that South Korea went through. Ukraine also had many western advisers so it’s now time for the government to decide which way they want to go.
The positive development that I noticed is the Ukrainian president’s will to reforms including the pursuit to simplify the procedure of obtaining construction permits. South Korean companies have been interested in construction of apartments in Ukraine.
Last year we also successfully concluded the delivery of intercity high-speed wagons which will be used for 2012 European Football Championship to connect the four cities where the games will take place.
We try to expand the cooperation in agricultural processing and energy efficiency. South Korea offers Ukraine some electricity saving schemes that would prevent from electricity leakages.
Kyiv Post staff writer Katya Grushenko can be reached at [email protected]
