Swedish Ambassador

Strengthening the Current Korean Society

Written By Katrin Marquez

Photos by Joey Nunez and courtesy of the Swedish Embassy

Swedish Ambassador Lars Danielsson is a man with undeniable intelligence and the ability to make one feel like the most important person in the room. His profession of choice is obvious; diplomacy suits him well. Sweden’s Ambassador to Korea since September 2011, Mr. Danielson spoke at the GIC on May 30, and Gwangju News was privileged to speak with the Ambassador one-on-one about the lessons he has learned and what he thinks is next for Korea. Informed by years of dedicated work, he had much to say.

Prior to serving in Korea, Ambassador Danielsson had acquired an impressive résumé. He had worked in three continents: serving in China, Switzerland, the United States, Hong Kong and Macau. Domestically, he worked as a foreign policy advisor under two prime ministers and as secretary of state for over a decade. Speaking of his experience, he emphasized that lessons can be learned from any country one serves in, thus highlighting two of his assets as a diplomat: his ability to understand others and his desire to learn.

“There is always something you could improve in your own country [by] listening and learning from others. But you also need to start to learn your own platform—what is possible and what is not possible [within your context],” he said. He spoke about issues by punctuating each argument with a relevant historical example. Especially when speaking about how globalization facilitates collaboration between countries, he emphasized the enduring importance of history. “It is still amazing to me sometimes that history means more than you would think.”  The Ambassador added that, though he ponders ways to improve the countries he serves in, he is “not in the process of selling the Swedish system very much, because you cannot sell it. It is Swedish and it is based on Swedish realities and Swedish circumstances, and those realities and circumstances are different in Korea, different in the United States, different all over the world.”

Ambassador Danielsson claims that his more than 35 years of experience have made him “become more humble in terms of what you can export from one country to another when it comes to systems.” During his GIC Talk, he joked about how Koreans tend to ask how to replicate Sweden’s so-called welfare state — a term he thinks wrongly underemphasizes Sweden’s commitment to the market economy — in Korea. He continued that he does not think Sweden’s system should be replicated in Korea because trying to do so would ignore the complex historical and political realities that lead to Sweden’s current system, which is partially a consequence of the 1930s Grand Bargain between labor unions and employers that shaped Swedish economic development. Instead, he suggests for leaders and the public to recognize “certain principles that are extremely useful and that can be [implemented] virtually anywhere.” The principles he identified seemed to orbit an idea from his GIC Talk: the importance of the individual.

Ambassador Danielsson conveyed the benefits of democracy and free-markets for society. Commenting on what these ideas mean for Korea, he recognized Gwangju’s role in asking necessary questions of what human rights means today through the World Human Rights Cities Forum and other commemorations of the May 18th Movement.  He added that “Gwangju has shown that [if] you have people in one place who believe that fundamental [rights] are very important, that will have a significant influence in the rest of the country.” Danielsson also spoke about the importance societies should put on reevaluating their successes and challenges, particularly in terms of the public’s perception of government.

For Ambassador Danielsson, trust is “absolutely essential” to maintaining a society, particularly one similar to Sweden’s. He thinks, however, that the “gradual building of trust in [Korea] will be in a different way than in [Sweden]. It will not start in the labor market [as it did with the Grand Bargain].”  He hopes that this “will start more in trust-building lines between people and government.” He recognizes, however, that, especially now after the Sewol disaster, there are new added challenges since some question the government’s commitment of protecting citizens. He suggests that the anger resulting from the Sewol incident actually “illustrates [how] people would like to be able to trust their government” and he hopes authorities have learned from the disaster. Though Ambassador Danielsson speaks with affection about his time in Korea, he recognizes that Korea faces many challenges beyond the consequences of Sewol and of MERS.

Korea is a country in transition, following decades of extraordinarily rapid development. When combined with the unique political issues that arise from the division of the two Koreas, this necessitates that Korea develops unique methods of dealing with emerging issues. Ambassador Danielsson noted that some of the current policies stem from a time when Korea’s “focus [was] on the economic aspect, to get through, to get people out of poverty, [to enable] them to have a better life,” but that some of those approaches now need reconsideration. One example is the education system which Danielsson suggests might benefit from increased emphasis on “creativity, innovation [and] doing things jointly.” He also spoke that even though the Korean people are welcoming and kind, some particularities of Korean culture make it difficult for international residents to fully integrate in society, which should be addressed to maintain the labor market and the falling birthrates. Though these issues represent real challenges, Danielsson remains positive.

Ambassador Danielsson’s perspective on Korea can best be described as informed optimism. He is realistic about the challenges, yet enthusiastic that the Korean people can overcome them. A theme during his GIC Talk was the potential of the teenagers and young adults whom he strongly encouraged to make positive changes in Korea.