Mr BAIRD (12:42 PM) —It is my pleasure today to mention my visit two weeks ago to Korea. I went to Korea at the invitation of the Korean Ambassador and was sponsored by parliamentarians in Seoul. It was to coincide with the holding of their annual prayer breakfast, which is sponsored by the Korean parliament, and also to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the uprising in Kwangju. It was an extraordinary meeting. It was the first gathering of the World Parliamentary Christian Association. The head of that organisation is a Korean, and I was one of the five invited to be co-convenors. The others are from the United States, Canada and other South-East Asian countries. It was a great opportunity.

We were overwhelmed by the friendship of the Koreans, the hospitality we were shown in Korea and the size of the groups that came to greet us. While I have seen some big crowds in my time, a greeting from 25,000 people in one particular church was more than I have seen in my lifetime. Certainly, the choirs and orchestras in the churches were better than I have seen anywhere in the world, including in the United States and the United Kingdom. So the great enthusiasm and energy that we saw there were very positive. It was at a time when they were discussing very openly and frankly the questions of reunification with North Korea. North Korea, which has been going through significantly hard times because of its own economic downturn, separated following the Korean War. But there is still great hope in the community there, led by President Kim Dae-Jung. He is very keen to foster reunification. He is about to go to North Korea to have formal meetings on that issue.

He was also formally sponsoring the World Parliamentary Christian Association meetings and he invited us to the Blue House, which is the presidential palace, for discussions on the objectives. He shared with us his visions for Korea in the future in bringing the benefits of economic growth to the poorer sections of the community, as well, and also in terms of questions of reunification.

It was particularly interesting, going on the 20th anniversary of the uprising at Kwangju, to see the role that the president had in that uprising. He was one of the leaders of the discontent that existed at the time there was a military dictatorship in power that abused privileges. They certainly did not have a strong democratic process in terms of the way they met the needs of the community. At first it was a student uprising in Kwangju but it gathered wider support from shopkeepers and the broader community. The now President Kim Dae-Jung was put into prison the day before the attacks came from the national guard. There were some 350 killed, mainly students, along with other members of the community, and there were 5,500 people injured on that day, also. Helicopters attacked in Kwangju and the university province area. It was an overwhelming time of grief for those who lived in the area. This was the 20th anniversary of that particular occasion, and it had been led by the president.

The president was placed in jail for many months. He was tortured. He was taken out to sea where they threatened to put him over the side with concrete attachments, obviously to kill him, and he was saved only by some American helicopters that intervened and threatened to fire on the boat unless Kim Dae-Jung was taken back to land. He is a man of Mandela proportions. He is a man who is taking a strong interest in the economic welfare of his country and is also very keenly committed to reunification.

He is also taking a strong interest in the spiritual dimensions of his country. When you see the vibrancy of the Christian churches there and the other spiritual dimensions and religious traditions of that country, you know that in that president they have a very fine leader. It was my great privilege and honour to be part of those celebrations and to be invited to join the particular body which is being sponsored by the Korean government.