By Oh Hae-Young (haeya@koreatimes.com): President Park Geun-hye and Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands held a summit at Cheong Wa Dae in the morning on Sept 27. They agreed to elevate friendly, cooperative bilateral relations, which have been developed over 55 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1961, to a comprehensive, future-oriented partnership. At the summit, the two leaders adopted a joint statement that contains details of this agreement as well as the determination for and directions of cooperation in the future. President Park noted in particular that Korea and the Netherlands were working closely together not only on such bilateral issues as trade and investment but also on other global issues, living up to the intent of the comprehensive partnership. She went on to express her high regard for the value that the two countries placed on one another as future-oriented partners, as they were maximizing the potential for cooperation in promising areas in the future, including nuclear energy, smart farming, new and renewable energy and the creative industry. It has been decided this time to regularly hold a policy consultation meeting and a newly-founded joint economic committee meeting between the two governments, which the two leaders agreed would go a long way towards enhancing the momentum for bilateral cooperation. Prime Minister Rutte expressed his appreciation to the Korean Government for having commemorated his country`s Korean War veterans for a long time. In reply, President Park said that she always remembered Korean War veterans` sacrifices and devotions, which laid the groundwork for Korea`s progress, and felt grateful to them. President Park noted that the Netherlands was a key member of the EU and an exemplary country of the international community that will take a seat in the UN Security Council in 2018. In regard to the North Korean nuclear issue, the President expressed her hope that the Netherlands will play a more active role so that necessary sanctions and diplomatic measures, in addition to the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions, would be sought at the EU level. Noting that the two countries are speaking with one voice on various global issues such as terrorism, development and climate change, the two leaders agreed to further expand cooperation on the international stage. After the summit, the two leaders attended a signing ceremony of MOUs on bilateral cooperation in four areas: working holiday program, technological innovation, big data statistics and investment. Source: http://www.koreaittimes.com/
