S. Korea, Poland seek closer ties in infrastructure sector

(ATTN: UPDATES with dinner speeches in paras 7-10; CHANGES lead)
By Yoo Cheong-mo
SEOUL, Dec. 5 (Yonhap) -- Polish President Lech Kaczynski agreed to help South Korean companies participate in the planned expansion of Poland's infrastructure, such as nuclear power plants, liquefied natural gas terminals, subways and roads, during his summit talks with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in Seoul on Friday, Lee's office said.
Kaczynski arrived in Seoul earlier on Friday for a three-day official visit to
South Korea.
"Lee and Kaczynski held summit talks at Lee's office for discussions on enhancing
practical cooperation between the two countries," said the Korean presidential
office in a statement.
"Lee asked the Polish leader to support South Korean companies seeking to take
part in Poland's plans to build new atomic power plants, LNG terminals, subways
and roads. In response, Kaczynski welcomed Korean participation in his country's
infrastructure projects," said the statement.
Poland, South Korea's largest trading partner in Central and Eastern Europe, is
planning to build a 440 million euro LNG storage facility and two to three
nuclear power plants by 2012 and significantly expand its road, railroad and
Internet networks in coming years, according to officials in Seoul.
"Welcoming the 20th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties
in 2009, Lee and Kaczynski also agreed to further expand bilateral cooperation in
overall fields, including politics, economy, society and culture," said the
statement.
Following the summit meeting, Lee hosted a dinner for Kaczynski at the
presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.
"Bilateral trade reached $3.8 billion last year, while Poland has become South
Korea's fourth-largest trade partner in Europe. South Korea is Asia's largest
investor in Poland with a cumulative investment of $1.3 billion," Lee said in his
dinner address.
"At today's summit talks, I and President Kaczynski shared constructive opinions
on expanding bilateral cooperation in the fields of economy, culture, atomic
power generation and defense industry," said Lee.
In response, Kaczynski said the outlook for bilateral economic cooperation is
very bright, describing South Korea as Poland's largest trading partner in Asia.
Kaczynski is planning to meet with South Korean Prime Minister Han Seung-soo,
receive an honorary doctorate from Hankook University of Foreign Studies and
visit the Demilitarized Zone before leaving South Korea on Sunday, it noted.
In October, Lee held talks with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on the
sidelines of the Asia-Europe Meeting summit in Beijing, where the two agreed to
deepen bilateral cooperation in the Polish infrastructure sector.
At the Beijing talks, Lee expressed a particularly strong interest in the nuclear
power plant projects, saying that South Korean companies boast the world's best
safety technology and know-how in the field of nuclear power generation.
Lee also promoted the superiority of the South Korean-built T-50 plane, as the
Polish government was reportedly moving to import pilot-training planes.
ycm@yna.co.kr
(END)