By UN Journal Lee Kap-soo

Gwangju City Mayor Kang Ki-jeong met with Paraguayan Ambassador to Korea Miguel Ángel Ubaldino Romero in the reception room of the city hall on July 9 to discuss fire safety exchanges.

"Korea is the country that has provided the most support and cooperation in improving Paraguay's firefighting facilities," said Ambassador Romero, adding, "Our relationship with Gwangju, which began in 2018, goes beyond friendship and makes us feel like family and friends."

Mayor Kang responded, "Natural and social disasters are occurring in various forms every day, so I hope we can learn and grow in our disaster response systems to protect the safety of our citizens."

Ambassador Romero presented a plaque of appreciation to Gwangju City and the Gwangju Fire and Rescue Headquarters.

Gwangju Fire Safety Headquarters sent a training group to Paraguay last year through the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) Global Training and Education Project.

This year, 18 Paraguayan firefighters will be invited to Gwangju Fire Academy for 20 days of training.

From 2018 to last year, Gwangju Fire Safety Headquarters provided 37 firefighting vehicles with expired durable years for free, and plans to provide 12 more this year.