Annual Dinner at the House of Commons

Thursday 8th October 2009.

This year's dinner in the House of Commons was a great success. Despite the tough economic climate, 142 attendees - a record we think - enjoyed drinks in the Strangers' Room before sitting down to a very good meal in the splendid Members' Dining Room overlooking the Thames. Earlier, about 60 had enjoyed highly entertaining guided tours of both Houses. Dinner attendees included representatives from banking, government, legal, business, science, academia and arts circles, and three former British Ambassadors to the ROK.

AKS Chairman, Sir Stephen Brown, welcomes
 the guests in the splendid Members' Dining Room

Proceedings at the dinner began with Chairman Sir Stephen Brown welcoming everyone and introducing our Parliamentary Host for the evening Frank Cook, the longstanding Labour MP for Stockton North. Our Chairman expressed heartfelt thanks to Hyundai Motor, special supporters of the dinner, and to our two other current sponsors, Samsung and Diageo. All were represented at the dinner and it was especially good to welcome Hyundai Motor's MD Tony Whitehorn and his wife Jane. The Chairman said the Society was in robust health, described its varied activities, including the new monthly Korean dinners at a restaurant, and expressed the hope that non-members present would join. He underlined how much we valued the tremendous support given to the AKS by the ROK Ambassador and by the excellent Korean Cultural Centre in Northumberland Avenue.

Our Host, Frank Cook MP, introduces the evening

Frank Cook described his involvement with both Koreas, each of which he has visited, over the years. He was especially proud to have been involved in 2002 in bringing back to Teeside the seven surviving members of the DPRK soccer team that defeated Italy 1-0 in a World Cup match at Ayresome Park in 1966. He also mentioned, as did our Chairman, the unprecedented meeting the Society held, under his chairmanship, last March, when the ROK and DPRK Ambassadors to the UK, as well as the British Ambassador to the ROK, shared a platform in front of some 150 attendees, to discuss inter-Korean affairs. Welcoming the recent meetings between divided Korean families, Mr Cook expressed his strong hope that, notwithstanding the problems, the two Koreas would come together and peace on the peninsula would eventually prevail.

Ambassador Chun Young-Woo reports
 on the state of the ROK - UK relationship

We then warmly welcomed Guest of Honour and speaker HE Mr Chun Young-Woo, ROK Ambassador to the UK, who arrived hot foot from observing the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester. Ambassador Chun, formerly leader of the ROK's 6 Party Talks team, treated us to a succinct report on the state of the ROK - UK relationship ('excellent') and described the generally encouraging progress made by the ROK - which has just become Chairman of the G20 - in overcoming current economic challenges. He went on to share with us his own thoughts on Korean peninsula security issues. He was clear that first and foremost the DPRK has to give up its very worrying nuclear activities if meaningful dialogue is to be resumed and progress made in improving relations with its neighbours, the US and others. (Earlier Dr Miriam Chung had read to us the text of the ROK Presidential Reconciliation Proposal).

After guests had enjoyed further fine fare, very efficiently served by the House of Commons catering staff, and the chance to chat to acquaintances old and new, former British Ambassador Warwick Morris brought the evening to a close. He especially thanked Ambassador Chun for his frank and enlightening presentation, underlining the striking communality of approach that British and ROK governments took these days on most major global issues, including climate change. After presenting a bouquet and giving heartfelt thanks to the Society's tireless Events Organiser Sylvia Park, Warwick drew three cards from a hat to give a year's free membership of the Society to three overjoyed winners! It was nearly 11pm as the last mellow guests made their way out through the historic corridors and courtyards of the Mother of all Parliaments.

More pictures from the evening

<< Back