SEOUL– Colombian President Ivan Duque was awarded honorary citizenship of Seoul on Thursday, the last day of his three-day visit to South Korea, to boost bilateral friendship, the city government said.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon handed a certificate of honorary Seoul citizenship to Duque at a ceremony held at the city hall earlier in the afternoon, according to the city government.
Duque is travelling to South Korea on a three-day state visit, which included a summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in a day earlier.
During the summit, the two leaders reaffirmed their countries’ solidarity and friendship, and agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation, especially in the digital, environmental and cultural fields.
Duque is the 10th Colombian national and the 35th head-of-state level figure given the status of honorary Seoul citizen. Colombia’s Vice President Marta Lucia Ramirez was also awarded honorary Seoul citizenship in 2019.
“Colombia is the only Latin American country that helped South Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War,” Yoon Jong-jang, the city’s communications official, said.
“Duque’s honorary citizenship is very meaningful as 2022 is the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the first friendship program between Seoul and Bogota,” Yoon added, hoping for more exchange and economic cooperation between the two cities.
Source: Yonhap News Agency