Lee Myung-Bak

Global Summit of Women 2004
Seoul, Korea

Opening Ceremony

Welcoming Remarks
Myung-Bak Lee
Mayor of Seoul

May 27, 2004

Distinguished guests!

I express my warm welcome to you. It is a great pleasure and honor to have the Global Summit of Women 2004 in Seoul.

I have heard that this year’s Summit brought together the largest number of women who are extraordinary figures in their own professional fields, and I feel all the more honored.

During the past several months

I have met with President Natividad a number of times to discuss the arrangements for the Summit.

And now we have become good friends. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my good friend Irene for helping Seoul to successfully host the Summit.

As you may well know, women are increasingly playing a large role in today’s world.

While men were at center stage during the industrial age, the 21st century is seeing more women taking up a bigger and more active role in the society, and also living up to and sometimes even exceeding expectations in various fields.

Korea’s culture is deeply rooted in Confucianism, and for this reason, women’s social, political and economic activities had been blocked in the past.

But it is a whole new situation now.

For one thing, the share of female legislators in Korea’s National Assembly, which has now reached 13%, is testament to the emergence of women’s power.

Indeed, whether it be politics, corporate management, technological innovation or public administration, women are tapping into their full potential.

This is also the case at Seoul Metropolitan Government, with more and more women advancing into high-ranking public offices.

No doubt, the 21st century calls upon us to establish peace, co-existence and co-prosperity.

But this would be possible only if we pull our wisdom together, achieve gender justice and make the most of the potential of both men and women.

Despite the progress made during the past several decades, we are still seeing cases where women are suffering from human rights abuses, economic difficulties and discrimination.

I hope the Global Summit of Women will serve as a stage to reaffirm our commitment to this cause, encourage more women to live up to their potential and eventually make this world a better place to live in for both genders.

Tonight, we have prepared something special for our special guests.

You will be seeing a performance of Korea's traditional music and dance.

I hope you enjoy the performance, have an opportunity to get a glimpse of Korea and its 600-year-long capital, and realize that Seoul is much more than a city

that the UN ranked first in terms of e-government.

Thank you.

Any Questions & Comments, contact GlobeWomen at summit@globewomen.com. Or, write to us:

Globewomen, Inc./ 666 11th St. NW, Ste. 700/ Washington, DC 20001/ USA

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