About us

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Serbia to the Republic of Korea: His Excellency Mr. Slobodan Marinkovic

 

Name: Slobodan Marinkovic

Date of birth: 21 January 1952, Split, Republic of Croatia, SFRY

Nationality: Serbian

Education: Completed elementary and secondary education in Belgrade. Graduated from the Faculty of Political Science in 1975 in Belgrade, Department for international relations

Marital status: Married, one daughter

Languages: English, Russian

 

 

Career:

2005-2009		Ambassador, Chief of the Diplomatic Protocol, MFA
	2004	Ambassador, Coordinator of the Group for drafting control system for trade in arms and hazardous substances
1999-2003		Ambassador, Head of the Group for Humanitarian Issues
1995-1999		Ambassador in charge of special assignments
1992-1995		Secretary General, Office of the President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
1989-1992		Chief of Cabinet, Office of the Vice President and President of the Presidency of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
1986-1989		Foreign Policy Adviser, Office of the President of the Assembly of Serbia
1982-1986		Assistant Secretary of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
1980-1982		Advisor of Political System in the City Committee of the Socialist Alliance of the Working People of Belgrade
1974-1978		Vice President and President of the Belgrade Youth Organization

 

The role of the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia

The Embassy of the Republic of Serbia in the Republic of Korea represents the Government of the Republic of Serbia by protecting and upholding the country’s interests in the Republic of Korea and by promoting bilateral relations between the two countries.

The Embassy is in charge of political and economic affairs, the promotion of trade and investment, consular affairs and cultural exchanges between the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Korea.

The diplomatic relations between the two countries were established on 27 December 1989. Ever since, the bilateral relations have been gradually stepped up and expanded. These positive developments were temporarily suspended in the short period when the Embassies of the two countries had been closed due to financial constraints. The Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Belgrade re-opened in March 2003, while the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia in Seoul re-opened in November 2004, thus creating the conditions for further advancement of friendly relations between the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Korea. The academic ties have been maintained for the past 15 years since the establishment of the Serbian language courses at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. Recently, the Korean Studies program has been set up at the University of Belgrade.

 

LEGAL FRAMEWORK

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, three bilateral agreements have been signed: on the establishment of diplomatic relations, on air transport and on cooperation in culture, education and arts. The Korean side presented its draft in response to the agreement on investment promotion and protection. The Serbian side submitted its draft the agreement on the avoidance of double taxation.

 

PERSPECTIVES FOR ECONOMIC COOPERATION, AREAS OF INVESTMENT

The Republic of Korea is Serbia’s third largest trading partner in the Asia-Pacific region. Unfortunately, other forms of economic cooperation are still underdeveloped. The Republic of Serbia is interested in a more balanced trade and development of more advanced forms of cooperation (investments, exchange of know-how, etc.).

 

Facts about the Republic of Serbia

 

Official name: Republic of Serbia (independent country since 5 June 2006, when it separated from Montenegro)

Form of state: Democratic Republic

Political structure: President, Unicameral assembly – 250 seats

First Constitution: Dushan`s code, 1349

Area: 88,361 km2

Population: 9,500,000

 

Location: South East Europe, the central part of the Balkan Peninsula. Serbia is situated at the intersection of Pan European Corridors X and VII linking Europe to Asia.

Capital: Belgrade (greater urban area: app. 2,000,000)

Official language: Serbian (ethnic minorities are entitled to use their own languages)

Official script: Cyrillic alphabet but Latin Script is equally used

Main religion: Christian Orthodox (religion is practiced freely and many different religions and their institutions exist in Serbia)

Currency: Dinar (CSD), divided into 100 paras.

Dialing Codes: International country code: + 381 (Serbia), area code: 11

Internet domain: .rs

Latitude Longitude: 41°53′ & 46°11′ latitude North and 18°49′ & 23°00′ longitude East

Time Zone: Central European Time (GMT+1 - standard; GMT+2 - summer time)

Climate: Temperate continental, with gradual transition between the four seasons of the year. The average annual temperature is around 12 degrees

Airport: Belgrade, Nikola Tesla Airport (international), BEG

National day of the Republic of Serbia

“SRETENJE”, 15 FEBRUARY

The Republic of Serbia honors its National Day on February 15th. On that date in 1835, the First Serbian Constitution known as “Sretenje Constitution” was adopted. It was a modern, European constitution modeled after the constitutions of developed European nations of that time. The adoption of the first Serbian Constitution and the First Serbian Uprising against the Ottoman Empire which begun on 14 February 1804, are widely recognized as crucial events which were built in the foundations of the modern Serbian state. The “Sretenje Constitution” testifies to Serbia’s long-lasting democratic commitment from the early days until today to becoming part of modern Europe where it rightfully belongs in geopolitical and cultural sense.

 

Historical background

The first Serbian State was founded in the 800s by the House of Vlastimirovic and evolved into the Kingdom of Serbia and the Empire under the House of Nemanjic in the Raska region in the 12th century. Its founding father was Grand Duke (Zupan) Stefan Nemanja. In 1217, under Stefan the First-crowned, Serbia gained independence. As a medieval state, Serbia was at the height of its power under Czar Stefan Dusan, known as Dusan the Powerful, who proclaimed himself in 1346 the Emperor of all Serbs and Greeks. The Ottoman Turks had defeated Serbian feudal aristocracy in the famous Battle of Kosovo in 1389. Following the collapse of the Serbian Empire in the Battle of Kosovo, in the period between 1459 and 1804, Serbia was under the Ottoman occupation. In the aftermath of two national uprisings, the First in 1804, under the command of Djordje Petrovic, called Black-Djordje, and the Second in 1815, under the command of Milos Obrenovic, Serbia was granted a status of autonomous principality. Serbia got its first Constitution on 15 February 1835 and was recognized internationally as an independent State in 1878 at the Congress of Berlin. After a coup d’état in 1903, after King Aleksandar Obrenovic and his wife Draga Masin were assassinated, the power was again seized by the Karadjordjevic dynasty, the descendants of Black-Djordje.

In the 1912-13 period, Serbia fought in the Balkan Wars and recovered some of its former territories. However, the assassination in Sarajevo of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria by Gavrilo Princip, a South Slav unionist, led to Austria-Hungary declaring a war on Serbia which led to the First World War. In the end, Serbia was on the winning side along with the Triple Entente, but suffered a heavy loss in human life and huge material damage.

In 1918, by investing its sovereignty in a wider South Slavic state, Serbia became a part of a bigger country namely the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians, subsequently renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, headed by the Serbian Karadjordjevic dynasty. In the Second World War, parts of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia were occupied by the Axis Powers and their allies Bulgaria, Hungary and Albania, as well as by pro-fascist puppet-state called the Independent State of Croatia.

In 1945, Serbia became one of the federal units of the second Yugoslavia (DFY, later FNRY), which after became the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia, with Josip Broz Tito as its President until his death in 1980.

After the collapse of the second Yugoslavia in 1992, Serbia, together with Montenegro, formed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia which was transformed in the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro in 2003. After the referendum on independence conducted in Montenegro, after 88 years it has invested in the South Slavic state, the Republic of Serbia again became an independent State on June 5th 2006.