Ever since our Seongdong-gu District of the Republic of Korea agreed to make its first visit to Vietnam to sign a sisterhood agreement with Tuy Hoa City of Vietnam, I have been quite excited about the prospect. Since I formed ties with Vietnam, I have come to admire Vietnam¡¯s rich and long history of 5,000 years, its culture and people.
The peoples of Korea and Vietnam have many things in common: Both of them are patient and hard-working and always smile. They also have a culture of loving poetry and have Mongolian birthmarks, as well as the common custom of using chopsticks.
Vietnam is Korea¡¯s friend and a close relative related through mylticultural marriages. Like your saying ¡°nhap gia tuy tuc,¡± which is translated as ¡°When in Rome, do as the Romans do,¡± let¡¯s do as the Vietnamese do when in Vietnam and let¡¯s do as the Koreans do when in Korea, without differentiating us as Vietnamese and Koreans. I hope that our two countries will continue our enduring partnership which will remain unchanged even 100 years from now.
The year 2012 is the Year of the Dragon. I am pleased and happy to strengthen friendship and brotherhood with Vietnam, which symbolizes the ¡°dragon,¡± in this Year of the Dragon.
I love Vietnam!
Thank you.
Goh Jae-Deuk | Ward Head of Seongdong-gu
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