South Korea’s Speaker of the National Assembly, Park Byeong-Seug, visited Sri Lanka amidst a flurry of diplomatic visits and a worsening economic crisis to explore employment, investment and training opportunities.
During his visit, Byeong-Seug met with several members of the Rajapaksa clan and Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister, G.L. Peiris and reportedly commended the government on “enhancing citizen participation and engagement”. This is despite numerous human rights reports condemning the crackdown on civil society actors, human rights defenders and Tamil victim communities.
Read more here: Fundamental rights under serious jeopardy in Sri Lanka warn Human Rights Watch
He further spoke on employment opportunities for Sri Lankans in Korea. This comes as surveys show an increasing number of Sri Lankans wanting to leave the island. According to a survey by Sri Lanka’s Institute for Health Policy, an estimated one in four Sri Lankans would like to migrate if they had the chance.
Byeong-Seug’s visits by Hungary’s foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, and Britain’s South Asia Minister, Lord Tariq Ahmad. Read more about their visits below:
Trade, climate and human rights – Britain’s South Asia Minister tours Tamil homeland
Hungary's 'success story' turns a blind eye to Sri Lankan atrocities
Turkey’s foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, is expected to also make a visit to Sri Lanka.