In December last year, H.E. Mr. Moon Seoung-hyun, Ambassador of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea to the Kingdom of Thailand arrived in Bangkok. Ambassador Moon came directly from Washington where he was Deputy Chief of Mission. Expat Life sat down with Ambassador Moon to learn about his perspective on Thailand and discuss the bilateral relations between the two countries.
Career diplomat
Ambassador Moon has served in the Foreign Service for 34 years. Thailand is his second posting as Ambassador, where his first ambassadorship was in the Czech Republic from 2016-2019. Other overseas postings included the USA (Washington three times and New York once), Nigeria and Iraq.
Recalling his days in Iraq, Ambassador Moon shared, “I was there in 2005-2007 for 15 months. Korea sent 3,000 troops stationed in the northern part of Iraq to assist the Kurdish Regional Government for reconstruction efforts. Fighting was going on in other parts of the country with the Allied forces. We experienced occasional bombings and were provided with added security. Our troops assisted in the construction of schools and hospitals as part of the humanitarian contribution.”
Ambassador Moon was born in Busan, the second largest city of Korea. Coming from a medical family where his father was a doctor and mother was a pharmacist, he is the first diplomat in the clan. “When I was in my 6th grade, I dreamt of becoming a diplomat as I loved to find compromise between different parties. I chose to study international politics in university.”
Views on Thailand
On the subject of Thailand in ASEAN context, Ambassador Moon commented, “Thailand is the second largest economy after Indonesia. Together with the middle income status, Thailand is a leading force in ASEAN and Mekong region. As one of the founding members, we hope to see Thailand plays a major role in settling the situation in Myanmar and enhance further cooperation in the Mekong development.”
In terms of similarities between Thailand and Korea, Ambassador Moon sees both countries are successful in exercising soft power. “In terms of cultural influence, we have our K-pop and Thailand also has their culture, art and cuisine.”
Goals for enhancing bilateral relations
Since arriving in Thailand, Ambassador Moon has been running a busy schedule on a daily basis. Typically, he scheduled three to four important appointments. Apart from meeting government officials from the Foreign Ministry, economic and business communities, Ambassador Moon meets up with the Korean community once a month. It is estimated that there are around 20,000 Koreans living in Thailand. He initiated, “I hope to broaden my connection with Thailand by meeting more civic or environmental groups, intellectuals and activists in various fields.”
On the success story of Korea, Ambassador Moon elaborated, “Korea’s success is based on 3E’s - economic, education and entertainment success. During my term in Thailand, I hope to apply these 3Es in enhancing our two countries bilateral relations. One good example is every year, 50 or so Korean language teachers are sent to Thailand to teach Thai students. It is reported that Korean has now become the second largest foreign language to be selected for the entrance exam to the universities, a jump from our previous fourth place. Apart from Korean government students’ scholarships for Master and Doctorate degrees, many private Korean universities also support the initiatives.”
Although residing in Bangkok for only six months, Ambassador Moon has visited Chiang Mai, Chiang Raí, Esan, Phuket, and Pattaya. He plans to visit as many provinces in Thailand as he can during his term here.
Ambassador Moon is staying in Bangkok with his spouse, Madame Myungi-ji Suh. Their son, a lawyer, and daughter, a doctor are both working in the US. During the recent visit of her daughter, Ambassador Moon took a tour of “Hidden places of Bangkok” and was very impressed.
In concluding our interview, Ambassador Moon candidly said, “I am looking forward to more fun moments like this in Thailand.”
