Lunch with the North Korean Ambassador
Contributed by Miguel Angel Lopez Valentin, Universal Peace Federation (UPF)-Spain
One month ago I received an e-mail from our Ambassador of Peace Dr. Alfonso Ojeda. He had visited the North Korean ambassador to Spain, who had shown interest in meeting members of the CEIC (Spanish Center for Korean Research).
Dr. Ojeda is the founder and director of the CEIC, whose members are mainly professors at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) and the University of Barcelona (UB). He has attended several UPF conferences in Korea and the United States, where he could directly listen to True Father giving a speech. Also, when True Parents visited Seville during the Football Peace Cup in 2009, Dr. Ojeda testified about the awesome impression that he had while reading True Father’s autobiography.
Ten persons attended the luncheon with the North Korean ambassador on June 5, 2015. They were mostly university professors, some of whom frequently travel to North Korea, the wife of one of them, a student preparing his doctoral thesis on art history, the vice chancellor for international relations at the Complutense University of Madrid and myself as a member of Universal Peace Federation (UPF). (Dr. Ojeda had invited Armando Lozano as director of UPF-Spain, but he was unable to attend.)
Ambassador Kim Hyok Chol welcomed us, saying he admires Spain and the Spaniards, who are a very hospitable and open people. In part because Spain has a very pleasant climate, it is a leader in world tourism. In addition, Spain hosts the World Tourism Organization, and North Korea is interested in developing its tourist potential. There is also the sports aspect, as there are plans for young North Koreans to come to Catalan football clubs to develop their skills here.
The luncheon was informal, and we enjoyed typical Korean food buffet-style while chatting with each other. That gave us the opportunity to talk individually with the ambassador, explaining what each of us does and exchanging views with him. He speaks English very well and has a very pleasant character.
When I had the opportunity, I introduced myself as a member of UPF and the Unification Movement—Tongil Kyo, founded by Dr. Moon Sun Myung who was born in North Korea. I showed him the photo I had ready in my cell phone, with True Parents meeting Kim Il Sung. He smiled and even knew True Mother’s name, Han Hak Ja.
I also explained him about the car factory Pyong Hwa Motors (Pyong Hwa Cha Dong Cha, in Korean) and about the Pothonggang Hotel in Pyongyang. He kept smiling and, according to his comments, seemed to know about those things better than I did. My feeling was that despite being surrounded by doctors and university professors, due to True Parents’ foundation, my position was as high as theirs, being an ambassador of Unificationism.
In the end the vice chancellor for international relations of the Complutense University of Madrid expressed his desire to invite North Korean students to study in Madrid.
Ray and Irma Mas
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This is a wonderful development between North Korea and Spain!
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José Antonio Ruiz-Aragón Muñoz
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(Por favor, si es posible pasen este mensaje al redactor de esta página Miguel Ángel López Valentín)
Estimado amigo Miguel Ángel López Valentín.
Me acuerdo mucho de todos los hermanos españoles unificacionistas, aprendí mucho con vosotros y aunque hubo dificultades graves algunas veces, otras muchas veces fui muy feliz con vosotros.
Rezo muchas veces por vosotros
Espero que no os olvidéis de mí y que recéis por mí.
Os quiero mucho y os deseo lo mejor.
José Antonio Ruiz-Aragón Muñoz.
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Olga Molina Tobin
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Muy buen hecho, Sr. Miguel Angel Lopez Valentin. Felicidades.
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Tyler Hendricks
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What a great step forward!
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