PM Modi arrives in South Korea on two-day visit to bolster strategic ties

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived Thursday on a two-day state visit to Seoul, South Korea, on his last foreign trip before the general elections later this year. Besides high-level dialogues with the South Korean political and business leadership, Modi will also be the first Indian to receive the Seoul Peace Prize for 2018 for his “contribution to international cooperation and fostering global economic growth.”

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“The world acknowledges. PM Narendra Modi awarded prestigious Seoul Peace Prize 2018 for contribution to high economic growth in India and world through ‘Modinomics’, contribution to world peace, improving human development & furthering democracy in India,” tweeted MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar after the award was announced in October last year. The award comprises a diploma, a plaque and honorarium of US$200,000.

Modi, who was accorded a red carpet welcome on his arrival, complete with an honour guard at the airport, went on to address a packed house at the India-Korea Business Symposium and launch an India-Korea Startup Hub. 

He then unveiled a bust of Mahatma Gandhi at Yonsei University, Seoul, in the presence of President Moon Jae-in, first lady Kim Jung-sook & former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and said that “The solution to twin challenges of climate change and terrorism facing the world today can be found in Mahatma Gandhi’s life and his philosophy.”

He also met members of the India-Korea Parliamentary Friendship Group, and the mayor of the Kimhae city — which has a historic India connection because Princess Suriratna of Ayodhya had gone there many years ago — and presented him a sapling from the Holy Bodhi Tree. 

He then met members of the Indian community in South Korea, (estimated at around 15,000) before leaving for a  private dinner with President Moon.