BANGKOK, March 24 – Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Saturday left Thailand for South Korea to attend the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul and pay an official visit to South Korea to build trust and bolster cooperation after the flood crisis last year.
The visit is in response to an official invitation from the South Korean government. The prime minister will also take this opportunity to build trust among South Korean investors in Thailand’s post-flood recovery measures.
The official visit on Saturday and Sunday is particularly intended to strengthen Thai-South Korean relations in all dimensions with a special occasion to meet with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak to discuss issues encompassing investment, bilateral cooperation, agriculture, military collaboration, labour, tourism, nuclear energy and the environment.
A state dinner will be held to honour the Thai premier.
A highlight of the visit will be Ms Yingluck’s laying a wreath at the War Memorial of Korea in the capital’s Yongsan-don, former site of the country’s army headquarters, to show respect and appreciation for Thai troops who died during some 60 years ago during the war between the two Koreas.
The prime minister will meet important figures from Korea’s public and private sectors. She is scheduled to visit Hynix Semiconductor Inc, and then meet Korea’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman Kyung-shik Sohn and Eui Kyun Su, chairman of Dong-Ah Eleccomm Company.
She will later visit the Han River Flood Control Center’s River Information Center, the Ipo Weir, and be briefed on South Korea’s water management system, which will benefit Thailand’s water planning and management.
Ms Yingluck will also speak to students at Ehwa Woman’s University, and then speak at a forum between Thai and South Korean businesspersons during a luncheon organised by Thailand’s Board of Investment (BOI) and the Federation of Korean Industries.
The prime minister will join a discussion with leaders from a number of countries including Georgia and Italy, among others, in preparation for 2012 Nuclear Security Summit.
On Monday and Tuesday the prime minister will attend the Nuclear Security Summit alongside representatives of 52 countries and three interarching organizations — the United Nations, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Interpol, the world police cooperative agency.
During the meeting, Thailand will state its stance and express its political will to strengthen nuclear security and reduce the threat of nuclear-related terrorist activities. The prime minister will also discuss with world leaders in an attempt to create trust during the summit.
In principle, the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) is seen as continuing efforts from its first summit held in Washington, DC, two years ago.
After the first summit, Thailand expressed its will to the UN Security Council to join the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT) where it proposed establishment of an Intra- and Inter- Regional Cooperation in Nuclear Safety and Security (where it is in the process of establishing centres of excellence in the search for monitoring nuclear threats).
The premier and her entourage are scheduled to return to Thailand on Wednesday.
