Meeting with the President of HSS Dr. h.c. mult. Hans Zehetmaier

The Minister of Environment, Dr. Maanee Lee, visited Munich with a tight agenda of presentations and discussions on December 13/14th, 2009. He was accompanied by Dr. Chang-Hoon Lee, President of Seoul ASEM Institute, Prof. Dr. Gi-Eun Kim, a biogas expert of Seokyeong University, Mr. Jong-So Yoon, Director of the General Climate & Air Quality Management Office and Mr. Chang-Heum Lee, Secretary of the minister. The stay in Munich just before the climate conference in Copenhagen emphasized the good relations of Hanns-Seidel-Foundation and Minister Lee.

For the kick-off meeting on Sunday evening several experts of biogas from the German states of Saxony and Bavaria gathered in Munich to brief the Korean Minister. Monday morning started with an interview by the magazine Focus in topics like green growth and renewable energies in Germany and Korea. Following this early morning meeting, Dr. Lee held a special presentation on the same topics at Technical University Munich, which was organized by Prof. Dr. Holger Magel. During a meeting at the headquarters of BMW the minister was briefed about the future of environmentally friendly cars of the Bavarian car manufacturer.

The president of Hanns-Seidel-Foundation, Dr. h.c. mult. Hans Zehetmair, had a lively discussion with minister Lee about an even deeper cooperation in the area of environment as well as the promise by HSS to continue their dialog with North Korea in the future. The discussion during luncheon was also attended by Christian Hegemer, Director of the Institute for International Contact and Cooperation, Willi Lange, the head of the Northeast Asia desk, as well as Prof. Dr. Holger Magel of TU Munich.

Minister Lee was informed about the widely discussed Desertec-project during a visit at Munich Re which was the initiator of this industrial initiative which created a basis for an industrial generation of clean and CO2-free power in the deserts of North Africa and the Middle East. The joint venture Desertec Industrial Initiative (DII GmbH) founded by 12 companies and the Desertec foundation in October 2009. In Korea discussions just started on initiative of HSS Korea to start a similar project in the Gobi desert with participation of China, Japan, Korea and Mongolia.

Before taking off to Paris there was also a chance to briefly meet with the German Minister of Transport, Peter Raumsauer, who expressed his solidarity with South Korea towards the high ranking guest.

Meeting with the German Minister of Transport Peter Ramsauer

Briefing about Desertec Industrial Initiative GmbH at Munich Re