Irish officials and experts are sharing their experience in the Northern Ireland peace process with their South Korean counterparts in a bid to help ratchet down tensions on the most militarized border in the world, Ireland’s top diplomat here said.

“Previously in my career I was directly involved in the Northern Ireland peace process and so am keen to contribute in this area during my posting in Seoul,” Irish Ambassador to Korea Aingeal O’Donoghue said in an interview with The Korea Herald in Seoul on Friday.

As head of the North-South Section in the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Anglo-Irish Division, she worked on various aspects of the peace process including the development of North-South cooperation.

The Good Friday Agreement marks the stand-out development in the 1990s, which ultimately resolved three decades of political violence called “the Troubles.”

O’Donoghue participated in a wreath laying ceremony on Friday with visiting Irish Minister of Children and Youth Affairs Frances Fitzgerald and Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs Park Sung-hoon at a memorial for her countrymen who died in the Korean War at the War Memorial of Korea in Seoul.

The memorial, which was re-dedicated last year, recalls the Battle of Happy Valley. It took place on the night of Jan. 3-4, 1951, and some 157 Irish lost their lives.

“Ireland supports efforts to create sustainable peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, and the peaceful reunification of the peninsula grounded in the principles of democracy,” she said.

The visiting Irish minister is part of annual international tours by officials to market and sell the Irish brand on St Patrick’s Day. This year, some 27 ministers are visiting 23 countries around the world, with a special emphasis on East Asia. Irish Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney will go to New Zealand and Australia, while Irish Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin will visit China. Fitzgerald also visited Japan.

While St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated by revelers the world over, March 17 is also Ireland’s National Day.

O’Donoghue said this year’s celebrations in South Korea will include a new initiative in which Seoul’s N-Tower is “going green from dusk to midnight” on March 17, joining other world-famous landmarks.

The tower is joining a host of iconic world-famous buildings and monuments going green for St Patrick’s Day, “including the pyramids in Egypt, the Sydney Opera House, the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Empire State Building in an exciting global greening project,” she said.

Ireland and South Korea celebrated the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations last year.

“Our two countries share many of the same perspectives and policies on the global challenges facing the world today,” O’Donoghue said. “Ireland’s membership in the EU is an important context both in terms of the EU-Korea Free Trade Agreement but also in terms of the broader strategic partnership.”

Arriving in Seoul in August 2013, O’Donoghue is relatively new in South Korea. She said that advancing economic and trade links between the two countries is a key priority during her posting.

“Like Korea, Ireland’s economy is export-driven, and since 2012, we have begun to see trade between our two countries gather pace again,” she said.

Key sectors include pharmaceuticals, internationally traded services and food and seafood.

O’Donoghue has been a career foreign service officer since 1986, and Korea marks her first posting as an ambassador. She had other postings in Spain (1989-1992), India (1995-1999) and the United States (1999-2002). The Irish ambassador was born in Cork, in the southernmost end of Ireland. She qualified as a barrister-at-law at Honorable Society of King’s Inns in Dublin, Ireland.

She said South Korea and Ireland will work together on President Park Geun-hye’s creative economy goals.

“In my view, Ireland and Korea have much to learn from each other at this time of economic transition. I also see huge opportunities for both countries in sectors such as the life sciences, ICT and financial services where the Irish economy has great strengths,” she said.

By Philip Iglauer (ephilip2011@heraldcorp.com)