Brazilian envoy departs after accomplishing the rarest of feats

It is the season for a changing of the guard, ambassadors that finish their service in Korea either go back home or are transferred to another country.

Traditionally, The Korea Herald has been the publication that pays a fond farewell to outgoing ambassadors by recounting their life in Korea, while at the same time introducing the new ambassador to the diplomatic community and the reading public.

This summer is no different. A slew of ambassadors are leaving Korea. One of them is Brazilian Ambassador Pedro Assumpcao. It was only three years ago that the ambassador presented his credentials and started working on bringing relations to a level never before seen by both countries.

During his tenure in Korea Assumpcao has presided over two presidential visits and helped foster an increasing and very health trade relationship that has grown 35 percent since 2003.

"Last year we reached $4.2 billion both ways. That`s very interesting," he said with a proud look in his eyes. "It`s a little bit favored on the Korean side because Korea exports to Brazil are high aggregate value items such as computers, cars and cell phones. The deficit is about $150 million dollars which is almost nothing."

Assumpcao has spent a total of 10 years abroad moving from country to country as ambassador to Tel Aviv, Panama City and finishing off in Seoul.

Because of Brazilian Foreign Ministry regulations Assumpcao has to go back home even though he would like to spend more time in Korea.

"Because of my two other postings I cannot spend more than 10 years abroad at one time," he said.

The ambassador explained that three years is not a lot of time to complete work in sensitive areas, but during his tenure he accomplished a lot. The most memorable and probably the highlight of his and any ambassador`s career are presidential visits.

"It`s quite rare for an ambassador to have two high level presidential visits in such a short period of time," he said.

The first being a visit by President Roh Moo-hyun to Brazil in November 2004 and the other was a visit by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva`s about six months later in May 2005.

"These kinds of visits are so important. He brought businessmen with him, we signed agreements. Both presidents settled points in each other`s agenda. I can`t talk about things I`m not authorized to talk about but the presidents can talk about anything they want to each other. So it`s the maximum achievement an ambassador can have during his diplomatic career."

Assumpcao is not new to these kinds of visits. As ambassador he`s been involved in six presidential visits: one in Israel, three in Panama, and two in Korea.

"So that makes in the past 10 years one presidential visit every 20 months, that`s my diplomatic statistics," he said laughing.

Of the things Assumpcao will miss about Korea is the helpfulness of the Korean people.

"They try to help make your life easier, not only from a personal point of view but also from a functional point of view."

The example he gave was his experiences with the Ministry of Foreign Relations and Trade. Whatever he needed he would call MOFAT and they "would try to do the maximum to help."

"Their (Koreans in general) kindness impressed me a lot. In any difficult situation they will take their time to help you. Won`t find this anywhere and Koreans are very polite. In our daily life we depend a lot on the help you get from the community you live in."

So what`s next for the outgoing ambassador? He explained there are many possibilities but first and foremost after 10 years living abroad he plans to play a lot of golf.

"In Brazil you can play golf everyday," he said with a laugh.

Then will come time to reflect on what to do next. As it stands right now he plans to wait and see what his next assignment will be. One possibility would be to work on a project that would include Korea.

In two years the countries will mark 50 years of diplomatic relations.

"So we are going to have a celebration," he said. "On the Brazilian side we will work on organizing events around academic areas, business sectors and on the political side. This means I`m going to be involved with Korea for the next two years," he said happily.

But diplomacy is not the only thing in Assumpcao`s bag. He is also a lawyer by trade and depending on what will be offered to him he will decide what to do next.

Assumpcao says he will be leaving Korea with fond memories, not only of his achievements, but also with a sense of the country which will only enrich his future endeavors.

(yoav@heraldm.com)

By Yoav Cerralbo