On January 19, President Synn Il-hi received a letter of appointment as the Italian honorary consul to Korea, authorized by the Italian Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Korea at the special conferment ceremony in the Korean and Italian Association’s ordinary general meeting.

It is assumed that this appointment is to acknowledge President Synn’s non-governmental diplomatic ability in improving bilateral friendly relations of the two countries and his big role in founding the Korean and Italian Association in January, 2006.

President Synn received a medal for his meritorious diplomatic achievement from the king of Sweden when he was the Swedish honorary consul from 1999 to 2005. In addition, he was appointed as the Polish honorary consul for his excellent activities in October, 2005.

After the conferment ceremony, President Synn said, “I feel honored to take the position as the honorary consul in a local area, not in the metropolitan area, but, on the other hand, I also feel the strong responsibility. Holding the responsibility, I am determined to do various non-governmental diplomatic activities to contribute to the development and internalization of local areas.”