President Aleksander Kwasniewski has expressed hope to expand Poland's ties with Japan and Asia during his second term of office.
Kwasniewski, who was re-elected to a second 5-year term Oct. 5, told Kyodo News in an interview that he sees a lot of room for a major expansion of activities between Poland and Asia on the economic, political and cultural fronts, both in terms of Asian investment and activities in Poland and Polish influence in Asia.
He said he feels both a personal and a political affinity to warming relations between North and South Korea and the prospect of unification on the Korean Peninsula.
"I should start from history. We were on the Korean Peninsula from the early postwar years. The Polish military were there to protect peace along the demarcation line and, this is the first time that I have mentioned this, my father-in-law served there as an officer in the Polish Army in a communications unit," he said, speaking of Poland's role in the 1950-1953 Korean War.