Mister President,
First Lady Kim Hea Kyung,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Allow me first of all, also on behalf of my daughter, to reaffirm my warmest welcome to you, to your spouse and to the delegation in your suite.
Your presence here at the Quirinale tonight is a reason of great pleasure for us.
Let me thank you, Mister President, for the expressions of esteem and regard that you have addressed to Italy this morning and for the courteous words you extended to me personally.
I reciprocate the feelings heartfeltly.
We would all like that, in the current historical moment, the international community adopt a saying of your Country that expresses the wisdom of the Korean people: “If you speak kindly, you will receive kind words”.
In the case of the relationship between Seoul and Rome, this saying applies perfectly well, which makes me especially glad: a history of fruitful exchanges that have generated esteem, trust and enduring friendship over the years.
A history that is now reflected in the fertility of our political, economic and cultural bonds.
Ever-tighter relationships between our Governments have given new momentum to our bilateral strategic partnership, and are due to be intensified even further through a new five-year action plan and numerous other agreements in a multitude of spearheading sectors: semiconductors, space and defence technologies.
Today Italy is among the Republic of Korea’s leading European commercial partners. There is still a vast potential to be tapped, as is witnessed by the large number of entrepreneurs in your suite and the upcoming opportunities to meet with their Italian counterparts.
Our scientific collaboration consolidates year by year through joint research and innovation projects.
The dissemination and the mutual appreciation for our respective cultures, art – both classical and in the most modern forms – are experiencing a “golden age”: a growing number of Italian youths are developing a passion for Korean cinema, literature and music.
During the visit that I had the opportunity to pay to your Country three years ago, I was able to get acquainted with this immense cultural heritage.
Our relationship is sound and it can continue to grow. Thank you for having accepted my invitation to this meeting.
In the 1950s, when the peninsula was ravaged by war, Korea was the destination of the Italian Republic’s first international mission to set up a makeshift hospital under the auspices of the United Nations.
An act performed unhesitatingly and with a spirit of solidarity that ignores geographical distances.
The Republic of Korea and Italy nurture the same inspiration: they are determined supporters of the international rule of law and of universal human rights and look to an equitable multilateral order based on rules hinged on the United Nations – an Organisation that should be given greater representativeness and whose role must be defended as the necessary bulwark against the supremacy of force in the relationships between peoples.
The difficulties and risks now posed to international security and wellbeing, including that of our two Countries, are there for everybody to see. They must be tackled with resolve.
We can see it on the Ukrainian front, in which we stand side by side in upholding Kyiv’s resistance against the Russian aggression; in the Middle East and in the Gulf, the theatres of bloody conflicts and tensions, fraught with negative repercussions also for our own communities.
No region shall be spared, unless we cooperate to reverse this anti-historical tendency.
The hope of the Italian Republic is that all tensions be soon appeased in Asia too.
I am primarily referring to the stabilization of the Korean peninsula, confiding hope in its politics of dialogue.
On my mind are the maritime conflicts in the Indo-Pacific and the risks of altering equilibria.
On my mind is the suffering of the people of Myanmar and the border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia.
The road suggested by civilization is through dialogue and cooperation, in order to live in peace and tackle issues that are common because they are global and ongoing in the present: the fruitful experience with regional associationism like the ASEAN is, in this sense, valuable.
The drift towards permanent and sometimes predatory conflicts must be fought and stopped as it undermines free trade and navigation, hindering us from aiming for a dignified existence.
Nobody better than the Korean people can understand the extent to which the international community needs to pursue the ideal enshrined in the concept of “jeong”: the pursuit of harmony in relationships consolidated over time through the frequency of interactions and of the opportunities to meet and share.
An enlightening example comes from the writings of Nobel Prize Laureate Han Kang who, through her novels, reminds us of the importance of nurturing empathy between human beings, beyond borders and barriers, and invites us to “never let yourself forget that every single person you meet is a member of this human race.”
Mister President,
This is the track jointly followed by the Republic of Korea and the Republic of Italy and it is with this likeness of mind – and with the hope of continuing to tackle together the challenges of our time – that I raise a toast to you, Mister President, and to our friends, the people of the Republic of Korea, that you represent.
Geonbae!
