The Tibetan leader has been invited to participate in the 2006 Gwangju Summit for Nobel Peace Prize Laureates.
The Gwangju Summit will feature an opening session with keynote speeches by co-chairs, Kim Dae-Jung, former president of the Republic of Korea and Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev, former president of the former Soviet Union, four sessions to discuss topics, and a closing cession including the Gwangju Declaration of Nobel Peace. Individual or group winners of Nobel Peace Prize will attend the Gwangju Summit as presenters.
But don’t hold your breath. It’s still doubtful South Korea will grant the Lama’s request, made at a Korean embassy in India, for a visa to attend the conference. He has sought permission before but pressure from the Chinese government prevented the Korean government from agreeing.
A government official said that in determining whether or not to issue the Dalai Lama a visa, officials are considering “the whole of Korea-China relations” and that a final decision has yet to be made. Another government official said that “because of China,” it will be “difficult” to allow the Dalai Lama to visit Korea for the upcoming events.
From the Hankyoreh.
{ 3 comments }
G 05.23.06 at 10:04 am
Well, that would be nice if he did make it. Though, I think your skepticism is well-founded…I don’t see it happening.
Hugh 05.26.06 at 8:48 am
sigh…. I wish the crowd who get so excited about any indication that America is “forcing” Korea to do something … would pay attention to this. China (and have no doubt the Chinese embassy communicates it’s displeasure and opinion on the Dalai Lama to the Korean ministry of foreign affairs) here is directly interfering in Korean domestic affairs.
Cat 05.27.06 at 1:57 pm
Yes. It is dispiriting. I am surprised that we haven’t heard much about it–at least in the English-language media. It was a story for one day and that’s it. I’d be interested to learn more about how China affects Korean foreign policy. We do tend to hear about the U.S. influence a lot, I think.
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