Korean Supports Escorts

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31975, 30 April 1969, Page 14

Korean Supports Escorts

The provision of fighter escorts for United States reconnaissance aircraft in the North Korean area, was suggested in Christchurch yesterday by the president of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Mr Toop Yung Park).

Mr Park, accompanied by the director of the Korean chamber (Mr Myong-Chan Park) and the director of the arbitration department of the chamber (Mr Sang-Seol Lee) were yesterday guests of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce Mr Park said that In the light of the shooting down of a reconnaissance aircraft by the North Koreans, the best defence was the armed escort programme outlined by President Nixon.

The president of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce (Mr R. C. Wallace) and the immediate past president (Mr E. J. Parry) yes-

terday escorted the South Koreans round Christchurch. Mr Park said that South Korea did not have its own wool supplies and in future would be buying a little more. This would come either from Australia or New Zealand, price and quality being the determining factors. Although he was not a wool expert, he believed that Korea would prefer to buy fine wool, said Mr Park. In the last year South Korea imported some :52.7m worth of goods from New Zealand and this was in contrast to the $20,000 worth of goods that New Zealand bought from South Korea. “We want to increase the volume of trade with New Zealand," he said. T think ithat to buy more of your goods we have to sell more goods to your country or to some other country.” Mr Park said that he was not so much concerned with narrowing the trade gap between the two countries but rather with increasing the volume of trade between them. Asked what type of goods

South Korea hoped to export in bigger volumes to New Zealand, Mr Park said that he could not be specific on this point. New Zealand businessmen were the ones to decide. Cotton, silk and syn-

thetics had been bought by New Zealand.

What was important, he said was that more New Zealand businessmen should visit South Korea to find out what South Korea had to offer. An exchange of businessmen might increase trade volume. Mr Park said that after the Korean War, South Korea received an enormous amount of American aid. Rehabilitation took several years but the Korean Government made a concerted effort at economic development which began in 1962 and was accomplished in 1966. Since then, South Korea had undertaken a second five-year development plan and the final objective was to have a self-sufficient economy.

The visit by Mr Holyoake to South Korea in October last year had strengthened the ties between the two countries and South Koreans looked very favourably upon New Zealand and New Zealanders, said Mr Park. The Korean party are guests of the Government and the Associated Chambers of Commerce.