 |
| Spanish Ambassador Juan Lena |
By Kim Se-jeong
Staff Reporter
For Juan Lena, a posting in Korea is a special opportunity.
As a career diplomat who had served both in Japan and China, the Spanish ambassador said his posting in Korea would complete a tour of what he called " a big Triangle" in Northeast Asia.
"I feel very happy because with this you have a wider perspective of Northeast Asia. In the 21st century, this is going to be shaped by those countries. To be here, at the beginning of the 21st century, it's a great privilege. You see the most dynamic part of the world. We are very eager to know the country, make friends, and to see what is happening," he said in an interview with The Korea Times.
He was the ambassador to both China and Japan.
And to learn about the country, the ambassador and his wife Carmen, whom he met while working at the Spanish Embassy in the Netherlands, have already set out to explore it for themselves.
When they get a free weekend, Lena said, they find themselves out on the streets in downtown Seoul or suburban areas. "We like traveling very much," he said regarding his energizing weekend adventures.
Figuring out what the signs on the street say is difficult, but not so much when they have Chinese characters, as his wife can speak Chinese.
The ambassador's overall impression of the country ― tradition, custom and culture -is that it's similar to China and Japan.
And there's no doubt, looking back into the history of the three countries. "Chinese civilization went to Japan through Korea," he said.
Despite the similarities, he could find a few distinctive Korean characteristics.
"Number of Christians is very high," he said, compared to China and Japan. "It gives the country more cultural perspective," and reflects the country's acceptance of different traditions and faiths, and it's where the rest of the world is moving toward, he added.
The second characteristic is that people are relatively more open to talking with others, the envoy said.
On the basis of observations and understanding the country, the ambassador now bounces around how to enhance more than half-a-century old relations that is, generally speaking, good except for two deficit areas.
Spain, an exporter of minerals, pharmaceutical products and agricultural goods to Korea, faces a big trade deficit, and that's one area the ambassador is challenged to tackle.
A producer of quality wine and olive oil is trying to make a breakthrough in the Korean market.
As for olive oil, the Spanish product thus far prevails in Korea, struggling to expand in the market in the future. As for wines, competition in Korea is only getting more intense, with more wine producing countries fixing their eyes on the emerging Asian market.
Last week, 33 Spanish companies held an exhibition in Seoul with their wines, olive oils and Spanish hams, which Ambassador Lena attended as a gesture of support for the companies represented.
The exhibition, organized by the commercial office of the embassy, was also indicative of interest from the Spanish side to increase exports to Korea.
Along the same line, he also hopes to attract more Korean companies to Spain for investment. Amid the global economic downturn, it could only be wishful thinking, but it wasn't just a wish, he said.
Korean company Hanjin Shipping signed to construct the longest container terminal at the southern port in Spain, and anticipation runs deep in terms of what it would bring to the tumbling economy, hit by the global economic crisis and unemployment.
The ambassador said his priority would equally, if not more, lie on overcoming knowledge deficit between the two countries through promoting cultural and interpersonal ties.
For that, he couldn't emphasize more on the opening of the Cervantes Institute, an organization teaching Spanish culture and language.
The institute will open next year in half-swing, as what he called "antenna" of the real Cervantes Institute. The center will focus on collaboration with an as yet undecided Korean university.
To Lena, anticipation for the institute runs high, as the first Spanish institute established in Korea where images associated with Spain is rather limited.
The southwestern European country, in fact, has undergone similar historic development to Korea's ― politically unstable in the 1970's and quickly becoming a top world economy.
The institute in Korea is long overdue. It has been awhile since the opening of the Cervantes Institute first danced on the lips of Spanish diplomats and visiting officials.
Demand is getting stimulated as more students learn Spanish and more people travel to Spain.
The ambassador said the government has come to realize that Korea must stay on its list of priorities in order to be opened. Within the region, Japan, the Philippines and China have the institute.
He added that as soon as it opens next year, the institute would begin to seek a permanent location.
In light of efforts in promoting Spanish culture, the ambassador paid tribute to Delfin Colome, former ambassador of Spain to Korea, who pass away last year due to illness in the middle of his posting in Korea.
"He was a great musician, a good friend of mine. He did a lot to promote Spanish culture in Korea," Lena said, promising that Koreans will also be able to see diverse aspect of Spanish culture in the next few years.
For Juan Lena, a posting in Korea is a special opportunity.
