His Excellency Rim Kap-soo, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Romania: Career Diplomat, Author, and Advocate for Bilateral Relations

Ambassador RIM Kap-soo is the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Romania. He has been serving as diplomat for 29 years. He graduated from Seoul National University with a B.A. in political science and has a M.A. in International Relations from London School of Economics and Political Science. He is also the author of three books on sanctions and non-proliferation.

C&B: Describe your professional activity!

Ambassador Rim: I have been serving as the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Romania since March 2022. My mission is to consolidate and bring bilateral relations between Korea and Romania up further. I have a motto inscribed at the back of my business card: I represent the Republic of Korea in Romania and support Romania in the Republic of Korea. I can conduct this my dual function as Korea and Romania are strategic partners. My two-hatted function does not collide each other but reinforces each other. What I am doing to promote Korea’s interest in Romania can be beneficial to the interest of Romania. What I do to promote Romania in Korea is also beneficial to Korea.

C&B: What is the story of your career progression?

Ambassador Rim: Since joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1996, I have worked mainly in the fields of security, North Korea issues, sanctions and WMD non-proliferation. I was assigned to New York (United Nations), Vienna, Jordan, and Yemen. I briefly served at the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) as senior non-proliferation expert. In headquarter, I served as the Director of UN Division and Director-General for Korean Peninsula Peace Regime Bureau as well as senior Assistant Secretary to the President at the Office of National Security.

C&B: What were your childhood/adolescent dreams, and what are they now?

Ambassador Rim: When I was young, I wanted to become a university professor. Even though I became a diplomat, I keep reading, studying and writing. I believe that a good diplomat should be a good strategist and thinker as well. In this sense, my dream is at least half-fulfilled.

C&B: What are the life and work principles you follow?

Ambassador Rim:  First, what I value the most is sincerity, both in work and personal life. At the bottom, diplomacy is largely about how to deal with other people. If you want to achieve your goal by doing diplomacy with your counterpart, sincerity and respect for others are the most important aspect.

In addition, I still carry another precious teaching. When I served as political counsellor at Korea’s permanent mission to the United Nations in early 2010s, I had the privilege of meeting Dr. Henry Kissinger. I asked him to give me one piece of advice which I should carry all through my diplomatic service. His advice was “when you don’t know what to do, just support your friend”.

C&B: Can you share any amusing situations from your professional experience?

Ambassador Rim: During my 29 years of Foreign Service, I have been quite lucky to serve in countries with whom we have shared views and values. I had lived in London, Vienna, New York, Amman and Bucharest.

I believe that the best gift for a diplomat is to meet with the best counterparts, colleagues and interlocutors. The best partner means that we can see eye to eye and we can talk heart to heart. The minimum requirement to have best counterpart is that I and my counterpart should share the same vision and the same perspective. We have to look in the same direction. In addition to this, if we also have the same alignment of security interests, that makes us the perfect partners. In this sense, Romania is our perfect strategic partner.

C&B: We know that the Romanian song The Waves of Danube is very popular in Korea and that it holds a special place in your heart. What is the story behind that? And why do you like it?

Ambassador Rim : In 1926, Korea’s first soprano Yun Sim-deok released an adaptation of Romanian composer Ivanovic’s ‘Waves of the Danube’ as a song called ‘Praise of Death’, which contains the joys and sorrows of being a new modern female artist during the transformation of Korean society. I think the sad sentiment contained in the original song suited Koreans who were living in a period of colonization at the time. The fact that a Romanian music became the first big hit song in Korea in 19020s clearly reaffirms that our countries have a special cultural connection since long time ago.

C&B: You already spent more than two years in Romania – how do you like it here and what would you say to convince somebody to visit our country?

Ambassador Rim: I hope many Korean people visit Romania, and experience the breath-taking nature, historic cities and hospitality of the Romanian people. I recently posted my short travels to Transfagarasan on my Facebook, and many of my Korean friends showed their wish to visit Romania and it was even reported in local newspapers.

C&B: What about Korea? How would you convince somebody to visit your beautiful country?

Ambassador Rim : Korea is already a popular travel destination for K-Pop and K-Drama lovers in Romania. I often encourage my Romanian friends in the Government, media, academia, and industry to visit Korea and experience for themselves the remarkable transition of Korea during the last seven decades from war-torn impoverished country to world’s 10th largest economy with cutting-edge technologies.

C&B: What advice do you have for beginners or those who are undecided to follow your path, meaning being a diplomat?

Ambassador Rim: This is the advice I recently gave to the Freshmen of Romania-America University: “Develop the habits of reading, enjoy discussions with an open attitude and continuously develop your own perspective.’ I think this applies not only to future diplomats, but is necessary for all professionals.

 C&B: What is your opinion about society and its evolution in Romania considering the years spent here?

Ambassador Rim: Romania has a lot of advantages thanks to its membership in the NATO and EU, its geo-strategic location as gateway to the European continents, its size (1.1 times the size of the Korean Peninsula) and population (around 20 million people), as well as its young, well-educated and motivated workforce. Numbers speak for itself. Romania’s GDP has increased five times after it joined the NATO and the European Union. I am also impressed by how Romanian society continues to develop into an open and transparent society while preserving its own identity and rich traditions.

Our two countries share a lot in common. We are resilient peoples who have experienced ups and downs in our history, stood up to many challenges, and treaded the irreversible path toward full-fledged democracy and economic prosperity. Today, we have firmly established ourselves to the shining beacons of security and prosperity in the Eastern Flank of Europe and on the Northern Flank of Northeast Asia. We share the same strategic partners and the same alliance. We are strategic partners sharing not only the same fundamental values, but also a common security environment and mutual security interests. Korea and Romania can be the best strategic partners straddling Europe and Asia in this regard.

C&B: Your Excellency’s term in Romania comes to an end early next year – what will you miss most about our country?

Ambassador Rim: I don’t know exactly when I will finish my term in Romania, maybe in the first half of 2025? Definitely I will miss the Romanian people, especially my sincere friends whom I worked together. I could call, text and meet my Romanian friends in the Government, Parliament, press, academia and industry. I also did my best to support them in order to make the progress beneficial to our two countries.

Most important, as Romania is the country in which I serve as ambassador for the first time, Romania will remain in my heart. Wherever I serve wither in headquarter in Seoul or in another country, I will always support Romania. 

C&B: Where are you planning to go next? What are the next steps in your diplomacy career?

Ambassador Rim : Whenever I am asked what will be my next position, I answer ” İnşallah”, although most probably I will return to Seoul.

C&B: You initiated and completed many important projects since you act as an Ambassador for the Republic of Korea in Romania – what are the projects that you are most proud of?

Ambassador Rim: After I began my mandate in Bucharest in March 2022, I noticed that there was a gap between the diplomatic front and economic dimensions in our strategic partnership.

In order to reduce this gap, it was most important to create an institutional foundation for substantive cooperation through exchanges at the highest level. Since my mandate begun in March 2022, we had two Summits, three Prime Ministers’ meetings and two meetings between the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea and his counterparts from Romania. In particular, last April in Seoul, our two Presidents agreed to intensify cooperation on supply chain resilience in order to diversify commercial ties and to increase mutual investments, particularly in strategic areas such as energy, defense and infrastructure. In this vein, the Defense Cooperation Agreement and an MOU on nuclear cooperation were signed during the Summit.

Furthermore, I have been executing my own strategy of “pas-cu-pas” approach, making ‘success story and best examples’ first in the strategic area of defence and nuclear energy. Cooperation in these signature areas will extend into other industries, prompting a ‘spill-over effect’ into the whole economy. For example, when a significant investment is made by a big company, small and medium-sized companies will follow to form a supply chain. Other big companies will come to Romania, following the success story. Increasing investments will enhance Romania’s manufacturing capacity by creating jobs and sharing technology and know-hows, which in turn will attract further investments.

We are witnessing some concrete advancement in this pas-cu-pas, step by step approach. In the energy sector, this June, Korea’s Hydro & Nuclear Power Corporation (KHNP) started the construction work on the tritium removal facility (TRF) at the nuclear power plant in Cernavoda. This facility is the first of its kind to be built in Europe.

In the defence area, Hanwha Aerospace, a leading Korean company specialized in defence solutions, will build a production facility and will contribute to Romania’s economic development by integrating Romania’s businesses into Hanwha Aerospace’s global production line.

C&B: Recently, writer Han Kang won the Nobel – also in the last years Korean movie Parasite won the Oscar, BTS K-pop band won the Grammy why do you think Korean culture has become so popular lately? What is the secret of this amazing success?

Ambassador Rim: The appeal of Korean culture fundamentally resides in its authentic storytelling and rich traditions.

Firstly, Korean narratives revolve around universally palatable themes such as family, human relationships, and social issues. This helps Korean story-telling resonate with diverse audiences across the age, gender and nationalities.

Second, another cornerstone in Korean storytelling is the harmonization of tradition and modernity. While modern music from artists like BTS and NewJeans encapsulates contemporary trends, its roots trace back to the daily life of our ancestors, encompassing traditional music, pansori, and folk plays.

Author Han Kang’s winning of the Nobel Prize is significant because the Korean sentiment and narrative was recognized beyond the language barriers. Currently, Korean novels such as ‘Vegetarian’ and ‘Almond’ have been translated in Romanian and are gaining much more readers.

C&B: Please tell us your favorite Korean food, Korean song, Korean movie, Korean book and the favourite spot to visit in Korea.

Ambassador Rim: I like traditional Korean soups like Yukgaejang (spicy beef soup) and Sundaeguk (Korean sausage soup). I think Koreans and Romanians are one of few peoples who eat soup everyday.

I like Korean pop music of 1990’s I when I attended University. I am trying to follow new K-Pop songs which are also popular in Romania, but it is a bit difficult.

I enjoy reading novels about Korean history and society, and I like wandering around the nooks and crannies of Seoul and enjoying the atmosphere where tradition and modernity, cutting-edge and traditional culture coexist.