First resident ambassador of South Korea starts working in Estonia

The new ambassador of South Korea to Estonia Ileung Kim. Photo: Marko Mumm / presidendi kantselei

The new ambassador of South Korea to Estonia, Ileung Kim, who presented his credentials to the president of Estonia on Thursday, will start working in the office building at 13 Liivalaia Street in Tallinn.

President Alar Karis acknowledged the thriving bilateral relations and increasing defense cooperation with South Korea over the past few years. The president and the ambassador spoke about Ukraine and security developments on the Korean peninsula.

South Korea is one of the countries contributing to the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence in Tallinn. The Estonian defense forces have purchased equipment, such as K9 self-propelled artillery, from South Korea.

The two countries established diplomatic relations in 1991. Until now, Estonia has been covered by South Korean diplomats based in Helsinki. The Tallinn embassy is one of three new embassies that Seoul is opening this year. The other two are Lithuania and Luxembourg.

The Estonian embassy in South Korea was opened last year and it operates with a staff of five people, led by Ambassador Sten Schwede. Additionally, Estonia has an honorary consul in South Korea, Suk Jae Chang.

What makes Estonia particularly significant for South Korea is the fact that, along with France, Estonia is one of only two EU countries that do not recognize the communist dictatorship of North Korea, which arose at the end of the Korean War in 1953.