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South Korea: Moon Jae-in and the PyeongChang Olympic Games
On 8 February in Seoul, President Moon Jae-in receives Alain Berset. The two presidents discuss scientific cooperation, South Korea being one of Switzerland’s eight priority countries in this field, and the update of the twelve-year-old EFTA–Korea free trade agreement. On the peninsula, Switzerland welcomes the resumption of dialogue between North and South and hopes it will last beyond the Games.
With Health Minister Park Neung-hoo, he closes the Swiss-Korean Innovation Week with a symposium on the life sciences. His thread: Coubertin, effort and example, applied to ageing; by 2050, a third of the population of both countries will be over 65.
In PyeongChang, on 9 February, he attends the opening ceremony of the XXIII Olympic Winter Games. The next day, at the House of Switzerland, he welcomes the Secretary General of La Francophonie, Michaëlle Jean. His speech starts from Jacques Dubochet, Nobel laureate in chemistry, who said he had “invented cold water”, and from the word “chalet”, attested in Fribourg as early as 1408. In the evening, he attends the women’s ice hockey game between Switzerland and the unified Korean team, won 8–0 by the Swiss.
Thursday 8 February 2018 — Seoul
- Meeting with President Moon Jae-in
- Meeting with Minister of Health and Welfare Park Neung-hoo
- Closing of the Swiss-Korean Innovation Week, symposium on the life sciences, address
- Visit to a pharmaceutical company with Swiss partners
Friday 9 February 2018 — PyeongChang
- Mixed doubles curling match
- Visit to the House of Switzerland and the Swiss Timing facilities
- Reception hosted by President Moon Jae-in
- Opening ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games
Saturday 10 February 2018 — PyeongChang and Gangneung
- Men’s snowboard slopestyle qualification
- Visit to the Olympic Village
- Meeting with Michaëlle Jean, Secretary General of the International Organisation of La Francophonie
- Francophonie reception at the House of Switzerland, address
- Women’s ice hockey game Switzerland–unified Korea
Speeches on this site
- Symposium suisso-coréen des sciences de la vie (Swiss-Korean Innovation Week) (French-language page)
- Réception de la Francophonie à la House of Switzerland de PyeongChang (French-language page)
Sources