Celebrating its 100th Birthday of the Latvian State, Latvia Amb. Peteris Vaivars said that this year of 2018 was indeed a very special year for Latvia, Korea and for the whole world, adding PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games and Summit Diplomacy of the President Moon Jae-in from the Republic of Korea led to the peace and cooperation on Korean peninsula.

From the standpoint of the Korea Culture Ambassador Friendship Association, an affiliate organization of the NDNnews (www.ndnnews.co.kr) & Seoulcity magazine, the relation between us and the esteemed Latvia Embassy was very fruitful in that Amb. Vaivars attended the Korean Tourism Show in Kintex as well as World Dance Festival Gala Dinner hosted by Cheonan City in which NDNnews participated as a media partner.

To mark Latvia 100th Independence Day, NDNnews(www.ndnnews.co.kr) & Seoulcity magazine had an exclusive interview with H.E. Peteris Vaivars, Latvia Amb.to the Republic of Korea as follows so that our readers can understand more about Latvia, its relations with Korea and last but not least visit Latvia to narrow understanding gap. –Ed.

This year marks the 100th Independence Day anniversary for Latvia. What is the significance of this anniversary for you?

- It's a special day. I think that it is a milestone in the development of Latvia. In relations with Korea, it is very interesting because although both countries have a long history with many traditions, the relationship between Korea and Latvia is relatively short with around 27 years for our tragic history of being occupied by other nations. The history of exchanges between Latvia and Korea is very short compared to other countries such as the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom and Canada that has over 100 years of mutual relationship with Latvia. In this regard, the Embassy of Latvia in the Republic of Korea was founded in January 2016 and in fact, it is the newest embassy Latvia has established anywhere in the world. Nevertheless, despite of the such short history of the Latvian embassy in Korea, we have accomplished many things. The awareness of Latvia in Korea has been greatly increased. Now many Koreans have come to know about Latvia through TV shows, exhibitions, music, dance festivals, etc. There are two diplomats here, including me, and we put a lot of efforts every day to show the beauty of Latvia in Korea.

What are important accomplishments Latvian embassy in Korea has achieved during the last three years?

- This year's visit to Korea by the President of Latvia H.E. Raimonds Vējonis who was elected on 8 June 2015 and started his first four-year-term on 8 July 2015, was the most important achievement this year. The President attended the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang Olympics, had a summit meeting with the President Moon Jae-in, and attended business forums and so on. Plus, we experienced increases in numbers in various fields. First, trade with Korea has increased tremendously. The number of Korean tourists in Latvia has increased from 8,000 people last year to 10,000 people this year. Every year, about 100 Korean students study in Latvia. There are a 10, 15, and 20 percent increases in the number of exchanges between the two countries each year, which is quite encouraging for us.

There is a peaceful atmosphere between South and North Korea with series of efforts for denuclearization. What is Latvia's point of view on this?

- We do not have a particular perspective that is different from the general view of EU. Also, as a member of NATO, our policy is in agreement with perspective of the US. I think that North Korea should not only actively talk about the denuclearization but take actions to achieve this goal, which will result in the eased sanctions against North Korea. Although the PyeongChang Olympic has helped to create a peacemaking atmosphere between the two Koreas, it should be approached with care because there are different interests in play among the US and neighboring countries such as China, Japan and Russia.

Last but not least, what is your strategy to attract more Korean tourists in Latvia?

- One of the most important roles of embassies is to improve economic relations. My main duty is also improving trade relations with Korea. I think this is possible when we can create environment in which people contact each other. In modern times people come into contact and feel attractive about their culture and do business with each other. Basically tourism is what brings people together and gives them first impression about country, nature, culture, food and sports. With priority in the tourism, Latvian embassy in Korea arranges various tourism promotion activities every year in collaboration with major airline companies. In addition, we are also promoting tourism by publishing tourism materials using social networks and making efforts to promote Latvia through TV media. We have already run two programs about Latvia this year and this month a celebrity named Don Spike will be visiting Latvia to shoot a TV program. We have been working at the legal level and signed air service contract with Korea last month in order to establish direct flights between Incheon & Liga. We are talking with Korean Air and expect to have Korea-Latvia direct flights next summer.