President Ho Chi Minh

"Hello Vietnam. As a Korean who loves Vietnam, I want to join Vietnamese people to celebrate Uncle Ho's 130th birthday", said Mr. Park Chan Kyong, a veteran journalist who has 35 years experience working for the French news agency AFP,  showing his affection for Vietnam as well as President Ho Chi Minh.

Explaining the image of President Ho Chi Minh in his memory that leaves a very good impression on him, even though he never met Uncle Ho, journalist Park Chan Kyong said his interest in Uncle Ho was aroused many years ago when he heard about him from his father.

Since then, Mr. Park Chan Kyong has found and read a number of books about Uncle Ho as well as Vietnamese history, and increasingly admires him for his endless love for the people of Vietnam as well as the indomitable spirit of struggling for national independence.

The love for Uncle Ho and Vietnam was also a reason encouraging him to visit Vietnam. The first thing he and his wife did in Vietnam was to visit Uncle Ho's Mausoleum and his simple stilt house.

Referring to Uncle Ho's role in Vietnam's struggle for independence and foreign countries’ movements for independence after Vietnam gained its independence, journalist Park Chan Kyong said Uncle Ho was a symbol in the struggle for independence and reunification of the Vietnamese people. “He led and urged all Vietnamese people in a long and enduring struggle for national independence and freedom, as my father told me earlier, that President Ho Chi Minh spent all his time and efforts for the independence and reunification of Vietnam,” he said.

According to Park Chan Kyong, newly discovered documents in archives in Paris, France, show that Uncle Ho made friends with some of the members of the Korean Provisional Government in 1920. Since the meeting at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, Uncle Ho and soldiers fighting for independence for the Republic of Korea became close friends, inspiring each other and encouraging each other in their struggles for independence.

During the talk with Vietnam News Agency reporters, journalist Park Chan Kyong restated that both Vietnam and the Republic of Korea had gained considerable success in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, saying it is also his pleasure, as a Korean journalist who always loves Vietnam and always admires and respects President Ho Chi Minh./.

Compiled by BTA