Korean Airlines President Wu Qihong. Photo provided by Korean Air
Korean Air President Wu Qihong. Photo provided by Korean Air
China News Network, Seoul, July 12th Title: Exclusive interview with Korean Air President Wu Qihong: Building a "air bridge" for friendship between South Korea and China
China News Network reporter Liu Xu
Since ancient times, China and South Korea have had extremely profound cultural origins. With the deepening of China-South Korea exchanges, the mutually beneficial economic relations between the two countries continue to deepen. The geographical location of the two countries is across the sea, making the aviation industry particularly important in personnel exchanges and material transportation between the two countries. Korean Air President Wu Qihong recently said that as an "air bridge" carrying the friendly exchanges between the two peoples, Korean Air has helped the people of the two countries break geographical restrictions in the past 30 years since entering China and witnessed the prosperity of economic and cultural exchanges and personnel exchanges between South Korea and China.
Korean Air urgently purchases emergency supplies to rush to Wuhan. Photo provided by Korean Air
fulfills its mission: "Air Bridge" conveys Korean and Chinese neighborhood relationship
Korean Air was founded in 1969 and is one of the top 20 airlines in the world. Two months after the Chinese government and the South Korean government officially signed the "Interim Agreement on Civil Air Transportation" on October 31, 1994, the Beijing-Seoul route between South Korea and China was opened in December 1994, and Korean Air officially entered the Chinese market. In the following 28 years, Korean Air has successively opened 35 passenger routes in mainland China, operating about 220 flights per week.
Korean Air has a wide range of navigation cities in China, including 26 cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin, and operates 4 cargo routes, covering four cities: Shanghai, Tianjin, Xi'an and Guangzhou . "Xingluo Yunbu's route layout not only shortens the journey time between passengers from South Korea and China, but also provides great convenience for their interactions. Korean Air naturally became the booster of friendly exchanges between South Korea and China." Wu Qihong introduced that since 2010, the number of Korean citizens visiting China exceeded 4 million per year; the number of Chinese citizens visiting South Korea also increased from 1.87 million in 2010 to 6.02 million in 2019. Before the outbreak, the number of citizens of South Korea and China visited more than 10 million each year.
As a witness to the 30-year friendship between South Korea and China, Wu Qihong said, "After the launch of regular scheduled flights from Seoul to Beijing in 1994, Korean Air has been committed to expanding economic, cultural and civil exchanges between South Korea and China. At the same time, Korean Air has also fulfilled our social responsibilities through the implementation of public welfare activities such as Sunshine Bookstore, Love Plan, Afforestation, and Post-disaster Aid in China. In the future, we will strive to provide better and more convenient services for exchanges between South Korea and China, and actively participate in public welfare undertakings and common development with regional society."
Korean Air invited students from Zhaotong, Yunnan to visit Jeju Island, South Korea . Photo provided by Korean Air
devoted to charity: love and warmth illuminate the "Chinese heart"
As a multinational enterprise, Korean Air not only uses its own duties to build a "bridge of friendship" in the air across the straits for the people of South Korea and China, but also actively practices social responsibilities and spreads Korean Air's care for the earth and the world on China's land.
Wu Qihong said that since 2007, Korean Air will organize employees to go to Kubqi Desert to carry out tree planting activities, aiming to resist wind and consolidate sand, prevent desert expansion, and improve the soil and desert ecological environment. At the same time, this activity is also aimed at awakening the consensus between the people of South Korea and China on environmental protection, thereby enhancing friendly exchanges and friendship between South Korea and China. As of the end of 2019, the "Korean Airlines Green Ecological Park" has planted 1.55 million vegetation trees in China. These green colors represent life and hope are witnesses of South Korea and China working together to build a "friendly green Great Wall".
The growth and mental health of Chinese teenagers is also the focus of Korean Air. Since 2008, Korean Air has launched the "Love Project" in China, setting up libraries for Chinese children and donating computers, books and other school supplies.The Sun Library, built in 2011 at Taoyuan Central Primary School in Huangshan City, Anhui Province, and the 70 computers donated at Hongxing Primary School, a school for children of migrant workers in Beijing in 2012 are the crystallization of Korean Air's "Love Plan". These donated books and school supplies not only provide help in teaching in local schools, but also enriches the children's spiritual world and lights up the light of their dreams.
As part of the "Love Plan" charity project, the "Sunshine Bookstore" plan, which was implemented in 2010, is more concerned about the growth of young people in rural poor areas. By establishing a love library for poor primary schools, Korean Air intends to improve the learning conditions of children in rural poor areas of China, so as to help them acquire more knowledge until one day they can get out of the mountains and poverty. Over the past ten years, Korean Air's "Sunshine Bookstore" has settled in remote primary schools in Xi'an, Huangshan, Kunming, Shenyang, Changsha, Liping , Huachuan , Lijiang and Tonglu 10 remote areas.
"In the name of public welfare, we must keep the righteousness of neighboring countries." Wu Qihong said that from Inner Mongolia's desertification control to caring for left-behind children, Korean Air actively assumes social responsibility, silently contributes to the "neighborhood feelings" between the two countries, and uses its actions to illuminate the friendship between South Korea and China that is mutually helpful and work together to develop.
Korean Air Green Ecological Park. Photo provided by Korean Air
Overcoming difficulties together: Watching and Responsibility in the Face of a Great Disaster
"South Korea has always been circulating in Ming Dynasty Korean literati Xu Yun : 'Every time the liver and gallbladder look at each other, curling reflects the cold moon', we always remember the friendship between South Korea and China. "Wu Qihong said that in the face of disaster, the deep friendship between South Korea and China, of watching over each other and overcoming difficulties together is worth remembering by history as a good story between the two countries.
2008's Wenchuan earthquake is an unforgettable pain for every Chinese. Korean Air donated 500,000 yuan to China as soon as possible after the disaster, and activated special cargo planes to deliver 2,000 blankets and 36,000 bottles of mineral water and other rescue materials donated by South Korea to the disaster area to ensure the basic living needs of the people and disaster relief personnel in the disaster area. In the subsequent Yushu earthquake in 2010, Korean Air also extended a helping hand as soon as possible, donating 500,000 yuan and emergency supplies to the disaster area. In addition to financial and material assistance, Korean Air has also noticed the post-disaster psychological reconstruction problem of the affected population. It has invited primary school students from the disaster area of Zhaotong, Yunnan and the severely affected areas of Sichuan to travel to Jeju Island, South Korea to relax, help them treat post-disaster trauma and restore their mental health.
12 years later, at the beginning of the Gengzi year, the sudden outbreak of the epidemic disrupted the lives of the Chinese people. "Knowing each other is not far and near, and thousands of miles are still neighbors." Faced with the fierce attack of the new crown epidemic, Korean Air immediately purchased a batch of emergency supplies to rush to Wuhan. In the first two months of the Chinese people's fight against the epidemic, Korean Air has always cared about the lives and safety of Chinese employees and the people, and has taken the lead in taking a series of epidemic prevention measures to strengthen the protection of its passengers and staff.
"As one of the world's leading airlines, Korean Air's mission is not only to provide first-class services to passengers, but also to allow people from all over the world to strengthen their ties with each other through these special 'air orbits', and jointly write a brilliant chapter of world cultural exchanges." Wu Qihong said that in the face of the increasingly close exchanges between South Korea and China, Korean Air will continue to improve service quality and continue to work hard for passengers from South Korea and China to better travel experience. At the same time, Korean Air will continue to work with partners from both countries to jointly promote the development of the South Korea-China tourism market, promote deeper economic and cultural exchanges between the two peoples, and help the friendship between South Korea-China begin a new chapter. (End)
Source: China News Network
