Press Release

Legislative Yuan

February 15, 2022

President You meets with Representative Chung of the Korean Mission in Taipei:

Thanking the Korean government for its commitment to safeguarding democracy and security in Northeast Asia

Legislative Yuan President You Si-kun, accompanied by legislators Lin Te-fu and Chen Ou-po, Secretary General Lin Jih-jia, Consultant Hung Tzu-yung, and Secretariat Director Kung Ping-chieh, met with Representative Chung Byung-won of the Korean Mission in Taipei on Tuesday, February 15.

President You congratulated Representative Chung on his new posting to Taiwan, as well as wishing him a very Happy New Year of the Tiger. President You highlighted that, during the Korea-US summit held in Washington, D.C., last May, Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Joe Biden issued a joint statement on the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. Likewise, the US reaffirmed its commitment to the US-Korea Mutual Defense Treaty, which is obviously of great significance to Taiwan. President You also thanked the Korean government for its commitment to safeguarding democracy and security in Northeast Asia.

President You remarked that, despite disruptions to interactions between the Taiwan and Korean parliaments caused by the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two years, relations remained healthy and strong. The two presidents of the Taiwan-Korea Inter-Parliamentary Amity Association were also in attendance at today’s meeting, and they look forward to furthering bilateral ties with the assistance of Representative Chung through both the Inter-Parliamentary Amity Association and the Korea-Taiwan Parliamentarian Friendship Association.

President You pointed out that, in mid-December last year, South Korea held a summit in Seoul as a member country of the Open Government Partnership, while the Legislative Yuan worked with the National Democratic Institute of the United States to hold the 2021 Open Parliament Forum on the second and third of the same month. Taiwan and Korea share the same spirit of civic participation, transparency, and openness, and were among the best performing countries in Asia in the 2021 Democracy Index released by the Economist Intelligence Unit this year. Due to the current pandemic and given the high degree of instability in democracies and economies around the world, it has become clear that Taiwan and South Korea are partners with similar ideals and are in a strong position to learn from one another.

President You stated that, with both nations having been invaded, colonized, and subjected to authoritarian rule before their subsequent democratic transformation, neither Taiwan nor Korea would bow down in the face of oppression. Taiwan deeply regrets the recent injustice suffered by Korean short track speed skaters at the Beijing Winter Olympics. In particular, the manner in which the Chinese Embassy in Seoul attacked South Koreans and their government after the incident is but another example of the aggressive “wolf-warrior diplomacy” that already causes wariness among China’s neighbors. In recent years, more countries have become attuned to China’s threat to open societies and democratic thinking, which has led to diplomatic boycotts of the Beijing Winter Olympics from over a dozen countries, including the UK, the US, Canada, and Australia. Taiwan has a duty to remind its friends abroad to remain vigilant, given the old Chinese political adage: “All land under heaven belongs to the King, and all people on its shores are the King’s subjects.”

President You concluded by emphasizing that in addition to being economic partners, Korea and Taiwan share the universal values of freedom, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. He noted that the upcoming presidential election in Korea—to be held on March 9—would be Korea’s eighth election since its democratization, and that only citizens of free and democratic nations can decide their own futures through the ballot box.

Representative Chung used his speech to thank President You for taking the time to meet him and reflected on similarities in the democratization processes of Korea and Taiwan. He noted that trading between Korea and Taiwan is currently worth almost US$50 billion, with more than 2.5 million trips made between the two countries annually. Representative Chung vowed to further meaningful cooperation between the two parliaments and expressed his desire for parliamentary exchanges to return to their previous levels as soon as the pandemic allowed. He ended his speech by wishing President You and other guests present a very happy New Year.