Direct flight and new airport to boost Sri Lanka-Korea relations

Interview with Sri Lankan Ambassador Tissa Wijeratne

With the launching of Korean Air’s direct flight between Seoul and Colombo on March 9^th and the opening of Sri Lankan’s 2^nd international airport on March 18^th and an enthusiastic, hardworking ambassador, bilateral relations between Sri Lanka and Korea are embarking on a new stage. The AsiaN met with Ambassador Tissa Wijeratne at the Sri Lankan embassy in Shindang-dong earlier this month. Amb. Wijeratne has previously held posts in the U.S., China, Thailand, the U.K., and Israel. His hobbies include travel, walking, reading and golf.

Could you please tell us about Korean and Sri Lankan relations?

Sri Lanka and Korea established diplomatic relations in 1977 when Korea set up a diplomatic mission in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka later set up a diplomatic mission in Seoul in 1987. Yet, before our diplomatic relations, Korea opened a trade mission in Sri Lanka in 1968 and when Sri Lanka opened its economy in the 1980s, Korea was the number one investor. About 125 investors from South Korea came to Sri Lanka and set up small and medium industries at the time.

After the end of the civil war, Sri Lanka’s economy has growing very fast with an annual growth rate of 8%. Now, Korea is probably the 7^th~8^th largest overseas investor after India, China, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, and some other countries.

Last April, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa visited Korea, the first time a head of state visited Korea in 16 years. President Rajapaksa had an exclusive meeting with Former President Lee Myung-bak and they discussed strategies to encourage closer ties between the two countries. A delegation of 30-40 business leaders from Sri Lanka accompanied the president to Korea and during their visit they also went to Busan and met with people in the business community. The goal of this exchange was to promote friendship and cooperation between the two groups of businessmen, which may eventually lead to better trade and economic relations.

Besides the trade of goods between the two countries, the IT sector, agriculture and education are areas of exchange. Delegations come from Sri Lanka to learn about the health system of Korea and Korea International Cooperation Agency(KOICA) sends volunteers to Sri Lanka. There are now about 100 KOICA volunteers in Sri Lanka. These volunteers teach in Sri Lankan schools and technical colleges. KOICA also sends volunteers to train 100 Sri Lankan teachers in the Korean language and after one year of training the Sri Lankan teachers go back to their schools and teach Korean.

The Korean language is very popular in Sri Lanka as many young want to come to Korea to work. Korea has been introduced to the school curriculum as a foreign language. About 35,000 young people took the TOPIK (Test of Proficiency in Korea) last year, but only 5,000 passed. Passing the test is a requirement before coming to Korea.

Another reason for wanting to learn Korean is the Korean dramas, which are very popular in Sri Lanka, especially “Jewel in the Palace.” Therefore I invited the leading actress Lee Young Ae and actor Ji Jin Hee of this drama to visit Sri Lanka, as it would do much good in strengthening the ties between our two nations. I think cultural exchange between nations are very important and must not be overlooked. But, they could not accept the invitation at this time as Lee Young Ae has to take care of her twin babies and Ji Jin Hee is in the middle of shooting another drama or movie.

Also, infrastructure construction is happening very rapidly in Sri Lanka. Some Korean companies are also participating in the building of highways and hospitals. There are about 500 Korean students studying in Sri Lanka and a total of 1000 Korean residents.

How are tourism prospects in Sri Lanka?

Crowned the “Pearl of the Indian Ocean,” Marco Polo also wrote about Sri Lanka in the 12^th century as the finest island in the world. Sri Lanka was also named the number one destination in the world to visit in 2013 by The Lonely Planet. The compact island of 65,610 sq. km includes stretches of pristine beaches, abundant wildlife, scenic landscapes, expansive natural formations and thrilling sports and adventures. Sri Lanka is the home to many historical sites, energetic cultural festivities and delicious and unique Sri Lankan cuisine. Moreover, one of Sri Lanka’s strengths as a tourist destination is the hospitality of our people who are warm and greet all with sincere smiles.

The new direct flight between Seoul and Colombo, which will fly three times a week, will play a great role in improving ties between our two countries. In the past, people were more reluctant to visit Sri Lanka as it took a day to get there. One had to stop over in Hong Kong, Singapore, or Bangkok. But now one can take a direct flight for 7 and a half to 8 hours. Therefore, we expect this new flight to boost the number of tourists and an increase the number of arrivals from Korea to 30,000 this year.

Please tell us about the Sri Lankan community in Korea.

There are more than 25,000 Sri Lankan workers in Korea, most of them who work in factories. As soon as they arrive in Korea, the embassy greets them at the airport and takes them to the orientation center, where they spend about three days learning about the guidelines on life, customs, work ethics, some basic Korean language and rules and regulations they must follow.

The Sri Lankan workers here are loyal and have a good reputation. Former President Lee told the Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa in a visit that among the migrant workers in Korea, Sri Lankan workers were most responsible and hardworking. Also, we fortunately do not hear of many complaints from the Sri Lankan workers here in Korea. On rare occasions, we have received complaints that a worker has not been paid for 3 months. But, when we get such complaints, we contact the factory and work out the problem.

We encourage and support the Sri Lankan communities scattered throughout the nation to organize their own local events, which we try to attend. Next month in April, we are celebrating the Sri Lankan New Year and each community will organize their own celebrations, with games and sporting events like baseball, basketball, and cricket. Sri Lankan communities are in cities such as Ansan, Busan, Daegu, Ulsan, and Ilsan. Local churches and Buddhist temples also help to support such events.

These types of fun celebrations are very important to the Sri Lankan workers. They need this kind of meaningful day, a “change in their routine” at least once or twice a year. The embassy tries to visit each celebration and bring our consular services such as visa and consulting services to the migrant workers in their respective area. There are about 15 cities where we visit and provide the embassy’s “mobile service.”

Please tell us about the Sri Lanka’s embassy activities in Korea.

As our duty is to promote bilateral relations and to raise awareness of Sri Lanka, we organized many events around our Independence Day. This year, we had one reception at the Lotte Hotel, where we invited the diplomatic circle, government officials and business people to learn about Sri Lanka. We also held another celebration at Konkuk University with a focus on the Sri Lankan community in Korea as well Korean friends and lastly, we organized a food festival at the Millennium Hilton Hotel for about a month.

Last year, the Sri Lankan government donated two elephants to the Seoul Zoo and we held an event to celebrate the baby elephants’ 1^st year birthday. Not only did we want to share about Sri Lanka, but also to educate children to think about animals and understand that animals need to be treated properly

My wife is also active in an ambassadors’ wives’ group. Last May, she organized a luncheon where she cooked Sri Lankan traditional food and invited many spouses of the ambassadors. At that time she showed them a promotional video on Sri Lanka. Not only is it important to educate Koreans on Sri Lanka, but also to educate the ambassadorial circle.

How is your life in Korea?

I have been in Korea for almost two years and it has been a very busy time. Even though office hours are from 9 to 5, we work until night sometimes. Not only is there is office work, but many events to attend. I receive many invitations for cultural and social events from Korean friends and many organizations as well as many other cultural events and national day celebrations of other embassies. My schedule is very full as I try to attend all of these events. I also go outside of Seoul to visit the Sri Lankan communities in Korea. The Sri Lankan government is expecting much of me and therefore my post is quite demanding.

As the ambassador here in Korea, it is very important for me to be orientated with the country. I need to know where to shop, what the famous sites are and to be able to answer questions of the delegations that come here to Korea about everything from the size of the country, population, trading partners, economy to sports. I need to be able to tell them many stories.

What are your impressions of Korea?

People are very friendly here. Korea is a beautiful country with great scenery. I went to many cities in Korea, met many people, had many discussions, and attended many meetings. Everyone in Korea is busy. It is very difficult to meet with people. I believe this is one reason the Korean economy improved so fast. Everyone is working so hard and contributing to the economy.

I really enjoy the countryside in Korea: the mountains, trees, and greenery. I like the fact that there are many walkways. This can promote health of the citizens. I also like the system of gyms. Sri Lanka can learn from this system of walkways and gyms.

I enjoy Korean food too. I think it is very healthy food as soup is always included and there is a variety of dishes. My favorite dish is bibimbap. It is similar to one of our dishes in Sri Lanka, where we mix a variety of curries together with rice.