The Generalitat already has foreign delegations to cover almost all of America and Europe and part of Africa. The two great wastelands for the Government continue to be Asia and Oceania. But for the first of those two continents it already has a center in Seoul as of today. In this delegation, Pere Aragonès and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Meritxell Serret, have paid special attention, not only because it is the first in Asian territory, but because Catalonia maintains a close and long-standing relationship with economic and institutional actors in South Korea that required a reaffirmation in the form of headquarters.
The increase in delegations since they declined with the application of article 155 of the Constitution in the first half of 2018 is notable. Ernest Maragall, as minister, reactivated six practically at once, but not without being able to avoid the controversy with the Foreign Minister at the end of that same year, Josep Borrell. The delegation in Germany, the United Kingdom and Ireland, Italy, the United States, France and Switzerland were back in operation in one fell swoop.
Raül Romeva, as first Minister of Foreign Affairs, had nine delegations. The 155 destroyed all of them, except Brussels. Today, with Serret at the helm, there are already 21 covering 72 countries. It includes the Japanese one, in the creation phase and which the Government hopes will be fully operational in 2024. In addition, today in Seoul the president of the Generalitat has announced that he is studying the creation of two more delegations: in the Indian subcontinent and in Southeast Asia .
Be that as it may, the inauguration of the delegation in South Korea was attended by the Spanish ambassador, Guillermo Kirkpatrick. “Welcome, ambassador,” Serret stated during his speech, and after two minutes he talked about the reactivation of delegations and the launch of new ones. “We come from article 155 and its application” to try to “dismantle the external structure of the Generalitat,” he stressed. “Not only have they not been dismantled, but we have recovered and are stronger than ever, we have more institutional presence than ever,” added the Catalan leader. Two hours before, Aragonès met privately with another ambassador. This time with the one from the European Union in South Korea, María Castillo Fernández.
In South Korea, the delegate is Jaeyeok Yoon Kang, who has set himself the goal of promoting bilateral relations and “economic, social and cultural internationalization.” Yoon Kang has also committed to facilitating civil and business ties and exchanges.
It was the delegate who was in charge of remembering the list of links. In 1983, Barcelona and Busan signed a twinning letter; In 1988 the South Korean consulate was inaugurated in the Catalan capital. The most important to date is perhaps the close collaboration between the Gyeonggi region and Catalonia. It has lasted since 1999 and today Pere Aragonès and the governor of the region, Kim Dong-yeon - former Minister of Coordination and Policies of the Korean government (2013-2014) and Deputy Prime Minister and head of Economy and Finance (2017-2018) - have committed themselves in Suwon to sign a new agreement in 2024 for four more years.
The objective for the new period of understanding will be to promote the exchange of knowledge on environmental matters, the technology sector and video games. In this sense, it is worth highlighting that the Government promotes an alliance between regional governments on issues of “emerging and disruptive technologies.” Gyeonggi will be added to Catalonia, Flanders (Belgium), Hessen (Germany), Scotland (United Kingdom), Quebec (Canada), and the province of Buenos Aires (Argentina).
