His Majesty King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud

His Excellency Ambassador Riyad Almubaraky

The occasion of the national day celebration of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia comes every year to remind us of the greatness of the efforts and sacrifice that were introduced by the Kingdom's founder His Majesty late King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud and his faithful followers who afforded every valuable and precious assets they have for the sake of our beloved Kingdom's survival and continuation. With Allah's help, the Kingdom was reunified and restored security.

The national day anniversary emphasizes the firmness of rules and principles on which the Kingdom's great achievements are based.  It comes also as the culmination of the process of growth, development and construction since the era of the Founder King to the era of well-being, the prosperous development that we are witnessing today under the great leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques His Majesty King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammad bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and His Royal Highness Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, where the Kingdom stands proudly, side by side with the developed countries, in every fields. Thanks to Allah, the Kingdom enjoys blessed renaissance with more security and stability in spite of the security, economic and political challenges in the region.

Such accomplishments were realized through the blessing of Allah.  The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a country that believes on the Oneness of Allah, the Holy Quran, and His Prophet Mohammed, may peace upon Him, a country adopts Islamic constitution as a way of life. Second, thanks to the vision of His Majesty King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to achieve a comprehensive development based on the Kingdom's legitimate principles, to take advantage of the Kingdom's potentiality, its energies, and its strategic location to secure a better future for its citizens, besides adhering to the genuine Islamic faith and to preserve the genuineness of our society and its principles. The Kingdom's "Vision 2030"policy has emerged from these fundamentals and their guiding lights to draw a brighter and glowing future.

I am also pleased on this occasion to express with pride, and praise the distinguished bilateral relationship between the two friendly countries which was established in 1962 and witnessed through history, considerable growth and development that have extended to all aspects of political, economic, cultural, military, and educational and health fields. Such developments are responsive to policies and principles stipulated in mutual agreements;memorandums of understanding signed between the two countries, and have been sustained by mutual visits by high-ranking officials from both countries.

The official visit of Her Excellency President Park Geun-hye to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2015 which led to the historical summit with His Majesty King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. The visit has established the foundations for new era of bilateral strategic cooperation. A number of agreements and memorandums of understanding were signed to deepen the level of bilateral relations. His Excellency Prime Minister also visited Saudi Arabia in May 2016, besides the visits of H.E. Minister of Energy and Industry and Mineral Resources of the Kingdom to the Republic of Korea in July 2016.

In the field of trade, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the major trading partner to the Republic of Korea, where the Kingdom is the fourth largest trading partner to Korea, while Korea is Saudi’s fifth largest one. The trade volume between the two friendly countries has reached $30 billion in 2015 and $13 billion as of July 2016.

The next stage is expected to witness more cooperation and rapprochement due the participation of Korean companies in the Kingdom's developmental plan and its"Vision 2030". Such cooperation and rapprochement would be accelerated through providing a suitable climate for expanding the role of private sector mainly in investment and to diversify its activities through policies. It should be stated that such achievements in the history of bilateral relations would not have been materialized without the help of Allah and without the recognitions of the rational leadership of both countries with the importance of sustaining the bilateral relations.

Once again, I would like to congratulate the Kingdom's people and its Government under the wisdom and leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques His Majesty King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, hoping that peace and stability would prevail in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Republic of Korea and all over the world.