Margrethe & Henrik in South Korea: visit to be cut short

Queen Margrethe has continued her schedule solo during the state visit to South Korea because Prince Henrik has remained ill. Both will cut short the time they are in South Korea, with Prince Henrik due to return to Denmark tomorrow and the Queen on Thursday. The Queen will have carried out all the official duties planned for the visit, albeit on her own, but will miss out on the extra days of the private part of the trip to Gyeongju. Prince Henrik, 73, is said to be suffering acute bronchitis and spent a night in the Seoul Armed Forces Hospital under observation and was discharged back to his hotel by 10:30am the next morning earlier in the week.

Meanwhile, the substance of the visit has proceeded with a meeting on Monday between South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun (above) and Queen Margrethe for talks on promoting bilateral ties. The two discussed "ways to promote bilateral economic cooperation and exchanged views on common issues in history, culture and education," the President's office said. Roh explained the outcome of his landmark summit last week with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, and the Danish Minister for Economic and Business Affairs, Bendt Bendtsens, called for bilateral cooperation in the field of energy. The Queen, who is accompanied by about 30 Danish businessmen, visited a digital valley in the southern city of Suwon run by Samsung Electronics, the world's largest manufacturer of computer microchips.



Photos TV2/Scanpix

From the International Herald Tribune:

Danish royal couple to shorten South Korean visit after queen's husband takes ill
The Associated Press October 9, 2007

SEOUL, South Korea: Visiting Danish Queen Margrethe and her husband Prince Henrik planned to cut short their visit to South Korea after Henrik became ill, the Danish Embassy said Tuesday.
The French-born prince, 73, canceled his official schedule on Monday and Tuesday after he was briefly admitted to a local hospital suffering from bronchitis, said Um Sun-young, a spokeswoman at the Danish Embassy in Seoul.
Henrik was discharged later and has been recovering, Um said.
The royal palace in Copenhagen said that Henrik planned to leave South Korea on Wednesday while Margrethe was due to leave Thursday.
Margrethe and her entourage arrived in South Korea on Saturday.
During her stay, the queen has visited a war museum, toured a ceramics village and met South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun.
South Korea is Denmark's third-largest export market in Asia. Danish companies exported goods in 2006 worth 3.6 billion kroner (US$678 million; €483 million).

The Korea Times

Seoul to Expand Ties With Copenhagen
By Kim Yon-se

President Roh Moo-hyun and Danish Queen Margrethe II agreed Monday to expand ties in such sectors as the economy and culture, the presidential office announced.
In his meeting with the Danish Queen, President Roh explained the meaning of the inter-Korean summit talks that took place in Pyongyang last week, while the queen said the Danish people have a lot of interest in the inter-Korean relations, Cheong Wa Dae said.
Bendt Bendtsens, minister of economic and business affairs who is accompanying the queen, said he wishes for active bilateral cooperation in the energy field. Margrethe is also accompanied by representatives of 33 Danish enterprises.
During her stay, she plans to visit Korea's historic sightseeing venues, including Bulguk Temple and Dosan Seowon Private School of the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910).
She is the first Danish head of state to visit South Korea since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1959.
More than 10 journalists from the European country also visited the presidential office to cover the queen's meeting with Roh and her activities.
``While Korea is moving to push for economic cooperation with Scandinavian countries such as Sweden and Norway, the queen's visit is holding attraction among Korean enterprises,'' an aide to Roh said.
kys@koreatimes.co.kr

TV2 news story 'Dronningen alene til gallamiddag'
B.T. 'Dronningen alene til gallamiddag uden syg prins Henrik'
Billed Bladet 'Syg Henrik rejser hjem'
Jyllands Posten 'Prins Henrik tidligere ramt af lungeproblemer' - cites a history of acute bronchitis in 1997 when President Clinton was visiting and a slipped disc in 1996 which required rest at Cayx in the period before Prince Joachim's November wedding to Alexandra Manley
Berlingske Tidende 'Prinsen er ellers holdt op med at ryge'

TV2 photo gallery
Berlingske Tidende photo gallery

TV2 news clip
* Jyllands Posten web TV (1:07) - showing the return gala dinner among other things
* TV2 news clip (3:03)
* DR1 news clip (2:10)


How's your Korean? A story about Christian's little ways (sorry no translation for this one!)