President Lee Jae Myung and first lady Kim Hye-kyung salute the South Korean flag at a meeting with the Korean community held at a hotel in Frankfurt, Germany, on Sunday (local time). [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae Myung and first lady Kim Hye-kyung salute the South Korean flag at a meeting with the Korean community held at a hotel in Frankfurt, Germany, on Sunday (local time). [Yonhap]

President Lee Jae Myung stopped in Frankfurt, Germany, on Sunday (local time) on his way home from a tour of the United States and South America to meet with members of the Korean community.

Speaking at a community gathering that afternoon at a hotel in Frankfurt, Lee said Koreans abroad who were building trust in their local communities were "the core of South Korea's competitiveness" and expressed deep gratitude to those serving as "a strong bridge connecting South Korea and Germany."

He said South Korea and Germany had much in common. "Both countries rose above the pain of war and division," he said. "Germany astonished the world with the Miracle on the Rhine, and South Korea with the Miracle on the Han River."

Lee noted that this year marks exactly 60 years since the first cohort of Korean nurses set foot at Frankfurt Airport in 1966. "What the first generation of Koreans in Germany achieved alongside miners and ailing patients was not merely an economic accomplishment," he said. "They showed German society the diligence and sense of responsibility of the Korean people, and built and firmly cemented trust in South Korea as a nation."

"We remember the noble sacrifice and dedication of those who gave their youth as miners and nurses," Lee said. "We are deeply grateful."

President Lee Jae Myung delivers an address at a meeting with the Korean community held at a hotel in Frankfurt, Germany, on Sunday (local time). [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae Myung delivers an address at a meeting with the Korean community held at a hotel in Frankfurt, Germany, on Sunday (local time). [Yonhap]

Lee said Korean companies — from global conglomerates to small and medium-sized enterprises and small business owners — were "proving South Korea's competitiveness at the heart of the European market."

He added that a company's true competitiveness "is only complete when it earns deep trust within the local community."

Lee also described the gathering as "a somewhat unusual meeting" and explained why.

"I was coming back from South America and needed to refuel somewhere, and I thought it would be a shame to just pass through — so I asked myself which region I most needed to visit, and which I should see soon, and Frankfurt seemed to win out," he said.

The remark drew laughter from those in attendance. Lee added that he had wanted to meet with more overseas Koreans "whenever the opportunity arose."

The meeting came about because the presidential aircraft cannot fly nonstop from Argentina — the last stop on Lee's South American itinerary — to South Korea, leading the delegation to choose Frankfurt as a refueling stop.


sang@heraldcorp.com