Football legend Guus Hiddink among notables at Dutch state banquet

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Football legend Guus Hiddink among notables at Dutch state banquet

Published: 13 Dec. 2023, 15:47 Updated: 13 Dec. 2023, 18:29

SARAH KIM
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Former Korean national football team coach Guus Hiddink, left, attends a state banquet at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam on Tuesday evening hosted by King Willem-Alexander for President Yoon Suk Yeol’s state visit to the Netherlands. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

President Yoon Suk Yeol and Dutch King Willem-Alexander took part in a state banquet at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam on Tuesday, joined by key figures who have contributed to bilateral relations, including former Korean national football team coach Guus Hiddink.

"As we are facing an unprecedented global complex crisis, international solidarity based on rules-based order is even more important," Yoon said at the state banquet. "Korea and the Netherlands will become the best partners to lead global freedom solidarity based on universal values."

The dinner banquet was attended by 210 people from each country, according to the presidential office, including Hiddink, who took the helm of the South Korean national team in 2000 and guided the Taegeuk Warriors to the semifinals in the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

"At the center of the legendary 2002 World Cup semifinals that warmed the hearts of the Korean people is Dutch coach Guus Hiddink," Yoon said, applauding the Dutchman and highlighting the two countries' football cooperation.

"The beginning and end of Park Ji-sung's European career was in the Dutch league," Yoon said, referring to the retired Korean football icon.

He added that when he was a middle school student, he was passionate about Johan Cruyff, a Dutch football player who was "a sensation in orange during the 1974 World Cup."

"Currently, many young people in the Netherlands are passionate about K-pop, and some 1,000 Korean students are developing their dreams for the future in the Netherlands," Yoon said, emphasizing the development of sports and cultural exchanges between the two countries.

President Yoon Suk Yeol, center left, and Dutch King Willem-Alexander, center right, give a toast alongside first lady Kim Keon Hee, right, and Queen Maxima, left, in a state banquet at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam on Tuesday evening. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Other attendees from the Netherlands at the banquet included Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Jan Anthonie Bruijn, the president of the Dutch Senate. Korean participants included members of Yoon's business delegation, such as Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won.

Yoon greeted the attendees with Dutch phrases like "goedenavond," "good evening," and "proost," or "cheers" in his speech at the dinner.

He also expressed his gratitude to the Netherlands for its quick deployment of troops to aid South Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War.

"Based on the friendship forged through blood during the war, the two countries have developed solid and multi-layered cooperation," Yoon said.

From left, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, Korea International Trade Association (KITA) Chairman Koo Ja-yeol and Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong attend a state banquet at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam on Tuesday evening during President Yoon Suk Yeol’s state visit to the Netherlands. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

The volume of trade between the two countries last year reached an all-time high of $16 billion. Yoon stressed that cooperation between the two countries is expanding to future industries such as semiconductors, nuclear power plants, AI and digital technology.

In his dinner speech, King Willem-Alexander noted that Korea was no longer unfamiliar to the Dutch people and that "Korean fever" was sweeping the Netherlands.

Yoon noted that King Willem-Alexander made his first state visit to Korea as the Dutch head of state in 2014. He added that he himself had held three summit meetings with Prime Minister Rutte after taking office last year.

The first Korean president to make a state visit to the Netherlands, Yoon spent the day with the king, taking part in an official welcoming ceremony, attending a private luncheon and visiting Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML's global headquarters in Veldhoven.

BY SARAH KIM [[email protected]]