Ambassador Sung Kim's Arrival Statement at Incheon Airport

Ambassador Sung Kim arrives and speaks to press at Incheon Airport.

November 10, 2011
 

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.  Thank you very much for coming out to the airport to welcome my family and me to the Republic of Korea.  따뜻한 환영 감사합니다.  반갑습니다.

It is truly an honor for me to return to the country of my birth to represent the United States -- which has been my home for the past four decades.   

The relationship between our two countries is one of the most precious and important partnerships we have anywhere.  It is a special partnership based on shared history, values and experience.  For me, there is a deeply personal dimension to this shared values and experience and history.  Thanks to my parents and my experience as a child in Korea, I have an abiding affection and respect for Korean traditions, culture and values.

As an American, both an immigrant and diplomat, I, of course, have very deep respect for American values.  And I have had the privilege of promoting those values as a diplomat for the past 25 years.

And I very much look forward to sharing my experience with Korean friends as we work together to advance our relations.  This includes, of course, strengthening a very, very important security alliance and expanding our mutually beneficial economical and trade relationship.  And increasingly, our two countries are cooperating on issues beyond the Korean peninsula.  I very much hope to be able to continue that trend.  I am also very excited about promoting people-to-people ties in many different areas. 

As you see, my family is here with me today, but unfortunately they will have to return in a few days because of my children’s school.  So I am afraid I am going to be a 기러기 아빠 (kirogi appa) for a couple of months.  But I look forward to welcoming them back as soon as possible to Korea.

So thank you very much.  This is a big day for myself and my family, but I know that it is also a big day for young people in Korea because this was a college examination day.  I wish them the very best.

감사합니다. 한미 동맹을 위해서 최선을 다하겠습니다.

I think a couple of questions?

Q: Ambassador, when are you going to the Blue House?

A: That’s a very good question, and I don’t know the answer.  I hope as soon as possible.  But I know that President Lee will be travelling starting today.

Q: Recently, the dialogue regarding North Korea has begun, between the two Koreas as well as the United States and North Korea.  But now there are some skeptical views among the Americans about the dialogue with North Korea.  What do you think?  Also, your predecessor has been passive when it came to the Korean peninsula issue, but as an expert in this issue, how will you approach this?

A: Well, I am afraid I am going to have to defer on much of that because it is related to the question your colleague asked, which is when am I going to the Blue House.  Until I present my credentials, I should really avoid discussing specific issues.

But let me make a couple of general points.  When you look at the North Korean nuclear problem, the most important part of the solution is the close cooperation and coordination between Washington and Seoul.  So as the U.S. Ambassador to Seoul, I obviously will be working very hard to help coordinate our approaches to North Korea.

Q: People pay a lot of attention to you because you are the first Korean American Ambassador to Korea.  Your predecessor has stressed a lot of importance on communication with the Korean public.  So what would be the point of your focus when it comes to strengthening ties between the two countries?

A: I have deep respect for all of my predecessors including Ambassador Stephens.  You are quite right that Ambassador Stephens was very effective in her communication with the public.  And I very much hope to continue that.

When I say communication with the public, I am talking about the full range; obviously, government officials, politicians, but I also want to reach out to the younger generation, and use all of the social media tools available to do so.

One of the most interesting, important and exciting parts of our relationship is the growing people-to-people ties.  It obviously has a special resonance to me because I am a Korean American.  I am going to work very hard with my deputy Mr. Tokola and our team at the Embassy to make sure that we continue to focus on how we can help promote expansion of people-to-people ties.