IT maybe roughly two years to the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relationship between Korea and Malaysia, but officials from both countries are already preparing to celebrate it in a big way.

It will be a great opportunity to reflect on the past 50 years and prepare for the next 50 year, said Yang Bong Ryull, the Korea’s ambassador to Malaysia.

Korea and Malaysia established diplomatic ties on Feb 23, 1960 and the two countries have since co-operated closely in political, economic and cultural affairs.

Bilateral trade has rapidly grown with an average annual growth of 10.7 per cent and this has seen Korea becoming Malaysia’s sixth largest trading partner last year.

Korea is also the eighth largest investor in Malaysia with more than US$3 billion (RM10.3 billion) in investments over the past two decades.
“Although both countries have closely co-operated in political, economic and cultural affairs, we have just scratched the surface of the vast potential we share,” said Yang.

“This is especially so in this era of globalisation and with the emergence of the Asia-Pacific region.”

The Korean Embassy has already set up a preparatory committee involving Korean people in Malaysia and big companies such as Samsung, LG, Hyundai, Kia and Korean Airlines.

“There are many programmes lined up and I hope both the public and private sectors of Korea and Malaysia will come together to make this big celebrations a success.”