Polish president to visit South Korea early next month

Polish President Andrzej Duda, right. [Photo by Yonhap]

Polish President Andrzej Duda is coming to South Korea early next month.

According to diplomatic sources Sunday, Duda will meet with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol when he visits the country during the 25th World Scout Jamboree, which will be held Aug. 1~12 at Saemangeum, North Jeolla Province.

Duda’s visit comes less than a month after Yoon’s official visit to Poland in the middle of this month, and five years after the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province. During their summit meeting on July 13, the two leaders discussed ways to cooperate in the defense industry between the two countries. As part of the follow-up measures, the Polish president is expected to meet with officials from Korean defense companies that supply weapons to Poland and visit industrial sites during his visit next month.

Expectations are rising for expanded defense cooperation. The Polish government and Korean defense companies have been working on a second contract following the first one last year, but negotiations have run into difficulties due to the limit on export finance support from the Korean government.

In particular, Duda expressed his enthusiasm for attracting defense companies, saying right after the summit with Yoon on July 13 that Poland “wants not only to import weapons from South Korea but also to produce Korean weapons” in the country.

Poland has been in the spotlight as a European base for Korean battery makers, but since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, bilateral cooperation has been expanded to include infrastructure and defense, leading the two countries to work together as partners in future reconstruction projects in Ukraine. Under the Yoon administration, key Polish officials, including defense, foreign affairs, and finance ministers, have visited South Korea one after another since last year.

Meanwhile, future reconstruction projects for the war-torn country is expected to gain momentum as the Korean government has reportedly decided to allow businessmen wishing to participate in Ukraine reconstruction projects to visit the country.

“The government will provide comprehensive support for our companies to safely enter and exit Ukraine and operate smoothly on the ground,” Yoon said in a Cabinet meeting last week, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is reviewing permits for businessmen to use their passports to visit the war-torn country.

Since February last year, South Korea has designated the entire territory of Ukraine as a travel-ban area. Accordingly, the foreign ministry plans to specify the conditions for granting permission for businessmen to visit Ukraine.

President Duda is also expected to visit Saemangeum in his capacity as head of state of the host country of the next World Scout Jamboree in 2027 in the northern port city of Gdańsk. The World Scout Jamboree is a cultural Olympics for youths held every four years, and Duda will be the only foreign head of state attending the 2023 Saemangeum World Scout Jamboree.