Innledning til Koreas presidents tale til Oslo Forum

President of the Republic of Korea, Moon Jae-in,

First Lady Kim Jung-sook,

Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness, Minister, Ambassadors, ladies and gentlemen,

I am deeply honoured to welcome His Excellency President Moon, who will share his thoughts on the prospects for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

His speech is part of this year’s Oslo Forum, Norway’s annual retreat on peace and mediation, which takes place next week. 

International peace and stability are key priorities for both Norway and the Republic of Korea. In fact, this commitment was the starting point of our bilateral relationship.

In the 1950s, Norway provided a mobile army surgical hospital to assist the UN forces during the Korean War. Since then, our friendship has grown deep.

Though far apart geographically, our peoples and our countries have grown close and our relationship stronger.

At the same time, the situation on the Korean Peninsula remains a serious challenge to regional and global peace and security.

Your excellency, during your Presidency, you have taken important steps to build confidence and reduce tensions.

The Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang marked a turning point, and a number of inter-Korean summits have followed, seeking to build practical cooperation and understanding, and leading up to President Trump and Chairman Kim’s meeting in Singapore.  

Norway fully supports continued diplomacy for the denuclearisation of the DPRK and a peaceful and prosperous peninsula. In this, your leadership has been essential.

I would like to believe in the Korean proverb: “At the end of hardship comes happiness”.

The work ahead is crucially important, and Norway stands ready to contribute.

We are very fortunate to have president Moon with us today to deliver his Oslo Forum Key Note Speech.

The speech will be followed by a Q & A session moderated by Laura Bicker.

Thank you for your attention.