Ulsan Mayor Kim Sang-uk strengthens overseas ties through ambassador meetings

Ulsan Mayor Kim Sang-uk has invited the Danish and Russian ambassadors to South Korea in back-to-back meetings, stepping up efforts to strengthen economic and industrial cooperation with the city.

Kim met with Danish Ambassador to South Korea Mikael Hemniti Winther at Ulsan City Hall on Monday to discuss ways to expand economic and industrial cooperation, with a focus on eco-friendly energy including offshore wind power. Also attending were Pierre Bagaria, CEO of the Haeouli Offshore Wind Power Project; Lee Hyun-seung, head of business development at Copenhagen Offshore Partners (COP); and Kim Jae-woo, development director at the Haeouli Offshore Wind Power Project.

The Haeouli Offshore Wind Power Project aims to build a floating offshore wind complex with a total capacity of 1.5 gigawatts in waters east of Ulsan.

At the meeting, Kim shared updates on the progress of the Haeouli floating offshore wind power project and discussed ways to expand cooperation with Danish companies and others in the eco-friendly energy sector.

Earlier, on Friday, Kim met with a delegation from the Russian Embassy in Seoul, including Russian Ambassador to South Korea Georgy Zinoviev and First Secretary Vladislav Suryokin, to discuss exchanges and cooperation.

Kim briefed the delegation on Ulsan's preparations to develop the city's port into a Northeast Asian energy hub in anticipation of the Arctic shipping route era, and called for stronger cooperation going forward.

Ambassador Zinoviev expressed support for Ulsan's energy hub vision and said Russia would work to deepen cooperation with Asia rather than focusing on Europe.

"Denmark has world-class competitiveness in eco-friendly energy, and Russia is an indispensable partner for Ulsan's leap to become a Northeast Asian energy hub," Kim said.