Gov. Gregoire�s statement on arrival of Republic of Korea�s president

For Immediate Release: September 22, 2011

OLYMPIA � Gov. Chris Gregoire today issued the following statement after greeting the president of the Republic of Korea, Lee Myung-bak:

�I�m proud to welcome President Lee to the great State of Washington. Washington state and the Republic of Korea have a long and proud relationship with important cultural and economic ties. Our state is home to more than 60,000 Korean Americans and thousands of Korean students and employees of Korean companies. Korea was Washington�s fourth largest export market last year, with aircraft, seafood, hops and our famous Washington fruit traveling from our businesses and farms to their communities.

�I look forward to my conversation with President Lee later tonight, and will use the opportunity to continue to promote what Washington�s businesses and farms have to offer. I see many opportunities to strengthen ties between our state and Korea and support the concept of mutually beneficial two-way exchanges. I hope the Free Trade Agreement with Korea is implemented by both sides soon.�

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