SEOUL, South Korea – Israel and South Korea share a similar history, as both were founded in 1948 and both have become economic and political powers.
There are also efforts underway to form a closer future between the two countries.
At the Korean Israel One Summit known as KION, a new venture was designed to bring these two nations closer together.
Danny Ayalon, former Israeli ambassador to the U.S., is co-president.
“I was asked to join KION, and the moment I heard about it, I was captivated. I admired the vision, and we have here a real powerhouse in some churches of Korea that really organized together to create this organization. Uunderstanding that there is still a void to be filled in this natural alliance that should exist between the governments,” Ayalon said.
The former prime minister of South Korea, Hwang Kyo-Ahn, is also a KION co-president.
He told CBN News, “Korea is very much concerned about future policy, future strategy right now. Israel, as I understand it, is a very innovative and forward-thinking country. So there are a lot of areas where we want to cooperate, and I think we can cooperate a lot, especially in the area of ICT and science and technology.
Hwang added, “Also, I am a Christian, so there are already a lot of ties in that regard, and I look forward to more exchanges and cooperation through that.”
Israel’s Ambassador to South Korea, Akiva Tor, says that while the two countries share good relations, they could be much better. He says they’ve been “dating” for a while, but it’s time to get married..
“There’s huge potential in this relationship because we’ve got these very dynamic economies. Korea’s an amazing, amazingly dynamic country here in East Asia, and Israel’s economic engagement with this part of the world is, I think, Israel’s economic future,” Tor noted.
He sees Korea’s Christian community playing a major role in the relationship.
“The view of many (in the) devout Korean Christian leadership is that there is a special relationship between Korea and Israel with the Jewish people. And that’s relationship, which that gives a lot of promise for how we can move this forward.”
Deputy Mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum represented the city of Jerusalem at the gathering.
She told us, “We understand he Korean love for Jerusalem and the State of Israel. And in the new world order that we have, where the world has been divided between countries that want peace and prosperity and countries that want destruction and radicalism, that we all know that Israel and Korea are on the same side. And so strengthening relationships, strengthening the economy between us, trade, that should be a priority for both countries.”
Hassan-Nahoum hopes South Korea will follow the example set by the U.S. and other nations.
“And one of my calls to action was that I hope the government of Korea (will) consider moving the embassy – like the United States has done – to our capital, Jerusalem, because it doesn’t matter what will happen in any future peace deal that we all pray will come. Jerusalem will remain the capital of the state of Israel and the Jewish people,” she explained.
Ambassador Ayalon believes the two nations share a natural alliance.
He described the vision as a process enacted from further discussion and cooperation. “KION is spelling out exactly what the natural alliance means, and this is what we’re doing here. This is what we will do in a follow-up conference in Jerusalem. And the idea is to bring together high-level officials of the governments also to be exposed firsthand to what we do and what the potential is and why it is very much expedient for the two countries to work together and to establish this formal relationship sooner than later,” he said.
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