Baghdad in Korean Perspective Lee Myung-bak ‘s Case
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65074/cg8tjf52Keywords:
South Korea, Iraq, Hyundai Construction Company, Economic Relations, Political RelationsAbstract
The paper is an attempt to understand the city of Baghdad in the Korean perspective, by studying the case of the CEO of Hyundai Construction Company, Lee Myung-bak, who is the person responsible for the Korean entry into Iraq through the Iraqi market in the seventies of the last century, as before that there were no relations between the two countries, neither on the economic nor on the political levels.
Therefore, we focused on the visits made by Lee Myung-bak to Baghdad, which was the first visit in which he was able to get to know and introduce himself to one of the most prominent officials in the Iraqi government, who is the Mayor of Municipality, Abdul Wahab Al-Mufti which played the vital role in the successful opening of a Korean consulate in Baghdad and the establishment of diplomatic relations between Iraq and Republic of Korea.
Then we took the details of the second visit made by Lee Myung-bak to Baghdad, in which, through his friendship with Abdul Wahab Al-Mufti, he was able to get to know a number of ministers in Iraq who contributed to provide simple facilities to the Hyundai Construction Company in its works in Iraq, all the way to the Minister of Planning, , who was responsible for drawing up economic policies in Iraq, promised Lee Myung-bak that he would look into the issue of opening a Korean embassy in Iraq.
The other visits continued to follow up the implementation of the project contracts that Hyundai Construction Company obtained in various parts of Iraq, which amounted to sixteen projects, which are among the most important strategic projects that contributed to the progress of the process of economic development and building infrastructure in Iraq, and in every visit Lee Myung was there. Lee gave his impressions of the city of Baghdad and the characteristics of the individual within Iraqi society. He also admired of Iraqi cuisine and its most famous dish, which is the Iraqi masgouf.
References
(1) Document of the General Accounts Cash Directorate, No. 39255, dated October 27, 1966.
(2) Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Protocol Department, Document No. M/849/404/200, dated January 25, 1968.
(3) Document of the Budget Directorate/Secret Services File (1966-1971), No. 137/421102, dated October 11, 1966.
(4) Embassy of the Republic of Iraq, Annual Report for 2012, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
(5) Ibrahim, Talal Ismail, Hyundai Motor Company and its Economic and Social Role in the Republic of Korea and its Impact on Development in Arab Countries 1947–2007, Unpublished PhD Thesis, College of Arts, University of Baghdad, 2021.
(6) Ok, Jang Byung, Arab-Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies in Korea, Translated and Introduced by Mahmoud Abdel Wahid Mahmoud, Al-Zaman Newspaper, Baghdad, Issue 4629, October 2013.
(7) Abdul Nabi, Saeed Rashid, The South Korean Experience in Development, Journal of International Studies, College of Political Science, University of Baghdad, Issue 38, 2008.
(8) Ajam, Ali Abdul Amir, Baghdad 1978–1979: The Beautiful Loss, Electronic Article.
(9) Muhammad, Ghaidaq Abdul-Munem, Iraq's Economic Relations with the Republic of Korea 1975-1991, unpublished MA thesis, College of Arts, University of Baghdad, 2014.
(10) Qaddouri, Fakhri, this is How I Knew Al-Bakr and Saddam, "A 35-Year Journey in the Ba'ath Party," Second Edition, London, Dar Al-Hikma, 2014.
(11) Park, Lee Myung-bak, The Rough Road: The Autobiography of President Lee Myung-bak, President of the Republic of Korea and CEO of Hyundai Motor Company, First Edition, Abu Dhabi, Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research, 2012.
(12) Al-Zubaidi, Muhammad Hussein, The July 14, 1958, Revolution in Iraq (Its Causes, Preliminaries, Course, and the Free Officers' Organizations), Baghdad, Dar Al-Hurriyah Printing House, 1983.
(13) Salim, Muhammad Al-Sayyid, Madhat Ayoub, Korea and the Middle East, Center for Asian Studies, Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University, 1999.
(14) Al-Samarrai, Sundus Ismail, French Foreign Policy Towards Iraq 1967-1988, Unpublished Master's Thesis, Faculty of Political Science, University of Baghdad, 1988.
(15) Shalqami, Muhammad Amin, Understanding the Korean Experience and Ways to Benefit from It: A Scientific Guide, Asian Papers, Issue 36, Cairo, Center for Asian Studies, Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University, 2001.
(16) Ono, Motohiro, Japanese-Iraqi Diplomatic Relations, in: Iraq and Japan in Modern History (Tradition and Modernity), edited and introduced by Keiko Sakai and Mahmoud Abdul Wahid Mahmoud Al-Qaisi, Baghdad, Egypt, Murtadha for Iraqi Books, 2010.
(17) Makhoul, Musa, Encyclopedia of Wars and Regional Crises in the Twentieth Century - Asia, Second Edition, Beirut, Bisan for Publishing, Distribution, and Media, 2006.
(18) Al-Bayoumi, Najla Al-Rifai, The Korean-Korean Dialogue on the Issue of Unification, Center for Asian Studies, Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University, 1999.
(19) Hussein, Nazir Jabbar, Iraqi-Japanese Relations 1921-1958, in: Iraq and Japan in Modern History (Tradition and Modernity), edited and introduced by Keiko Sakai and Mahmoud Abdul Wahid Mahmoud Al-Qaisi, Baghdad, Egypt, Murtadha for Iraqi Books, 2010.
(20) Al-Jubouri, Nasir Mahmoud Shukr, The Foreign Policy of the Republic of Iraq 1958–1963, Baghdad, First Edition, Dar Dafaf for Printing, Publishing, and Distribution, 2012.
(21) Nuwair, Abdul Salam, Determinants of the Party System in South Korea, The Party System and Development Issues in South Korea, edited by Hoda Metkes and Khadija Arafa Muhammad, Cairo, Center for Asian Studies, Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University, 2005.
(22) The official website of the Hunting Club in Baghdad.
(23) Al-Waqa'i' Al-Iraqiya Newspaper, Issue 210, August 16, 1959.
(24) Al-Waqa'i' Al-Iraqiya Newspaper, Issue 3105, July 7, 1986.
(25) Department of Economic Research and Studies, Meeting of the Korean President with Saudi Businessmen, 2012.
(26) Lee Myung-bak, "That's My Testimony" Program, Episode 9, Saudi Cultural Channel, November 24, 2023. See: Episode link on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFJwi9hae0U&t=157s
Partnership and the European Community, past working paper. N.1. November 2012.
(28) AlSalman, Inaam M. A., Iraq from LEE Mynung Bak’s Approach: Beginnings of Economic and Political Relations between Iraq and Korea (1975 – 1991), Asian and middle Eastern Countries since the End of World War II, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies & President Hotel, 2015.
(29) Jung Hae Gu, Kim Ho Ki, Development of Democratization Movement in South Korea, Division of social Sciences, Sung Kong University, Korea.
(30) Al-Qaysi, Mahmoud, Iraqi Perception of the Economic, social and Political Transitions in Korea during the 2nd Half of the 20th Century according to Newspapers and official Records, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies & President Hotel, 2015.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright and Licensing:
For all articles published in Journal of Studies in History and Archeology, copyright is retained by the authors. Articles are licensed under an open access Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license, meaning that anyone may download and read the paper for free. In addition, the article may be reused and quoted provided that the original published version is cited. These conditions allow for maximum use and exposure of the work.
Reproducing Published Material from other Publishers: It is absolutely essential that authors obtain permission to reproduce any published material (figures, schemes, tables or any extract of a text) which does not fall into the public domain, or for which they do not hold the copyright. Permission should be requested by the authors from the copyrightholder (usually the Publisher, please refer to the imprint of the individual publications to identify the copyrightholder).
Permission is required for: Your own works published by other Publishers and for which you did not retain copyright.
Substantial extracts from anyones' works or a series of works.
Use of Tables, Graphs, Charts, Schemes and Artworks if they are unaltered or slightly modified.
Photographs for which you do not hold copyright.
Permission is not required for: Reconstruction of your own table with data already published elsewhere. Please notice that in this case you must cite the source of the data in the form of either "Data from..." or "Adapted from...".
Reasonably short quotes are considered fair use and therefore do not require permission.
Graphs, Charts, Schemes and Artworks that are completely redrawn by the authors and significantly changed beyond recognition do not require permission.
Obtaining Permission
In order to avoid unnecessary delays in the publication process, you should start obtaining permissions as early as possible. If in any doubt about the copyright, apply for permission. Al-Adab Journal cannot publish material from other publications without permission.
The copyright holder may give you instructions on the form of acknowledgement to be followed; otherwise follow the style: "Reproduced with permission from [author], [book/journal title]; published by [publisher], [year].' at the end of the caption of the Table, Figure or Scheme.
