Spokesperson's Press Briefing (July 18, 2024)

Press Briefing

Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Affairs Soosuk Lim

July 18, 2024 14:30 KST

Good afternoon. Let me start today's briefing.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul will visit Vientiane, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, from June 25 to 28 for the 2024 ASEAN-related Foreign Ministers' Meetings.

ASEAN is the Republic of Korea's second-largest trading partner and investment destination as well as the top travel destination visited by Koreans. In particular, this year marks the 35th anniversary of the establishment of ROK-ASEAN dialogue relations.

Foreign Minister Cho will attend the ROK-ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting, the ASEAN Plus Three Foreign Ministers' Meeting, the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting and the ASEAN Regional Forum Foreign Ministers' Meeting to discuss ways to bolster mutually beneficial and comprehensive partnership between the ROK and ASEAN across the board, including the political-security, economic and socio-cultural sectors.

Foreign Minister Cho will also have bilateral meetings with his counterparts of major countries to exchange views on issues of mutual interest.

Foreign Minister Cho will use these multilateral and bilateral meetings as opportunities to review the achievements made in the ROK-ASEAN cooperation over the past 35 years and discuss with his counterparts its ways forward over the next 35 years, particularly based on the Korea-ASEAN Solidarity Initiative (KASI).

These meetings are expected to serve as an opportunity to reaffirm coordination with the international community, including ASEAN, toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and to garner broader understanding and support on the ROK government's policy toward North Korea.

Moving on, on July 22, Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul will have a meeting with Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of Albania Igli Hasani who is on an official visit to the Republic of Korea.

Foreign Minister Hasani's visit to the ROK marks the first by an Albanian Foreign Minister in 13 years.

The two Foreign Ministers will discuss ways to promote trade and investment, development cooperation and academic exchanges and will exchange views on regional and global issues including those concerning the Korean Peninsula and Ukraine.

Lastly, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on July 22, Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul, together with the Minister of National Defense, will conclude a memorandum of understanding to strengthen the cooperation between their two agencies in protecting overseas Koreans.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Defense have decided to conclude this MOU to facilitate more prompt and closer cooperation in the event of overseas disaster situations by building on their experiences of working together for the safety of Korean nationals, including in the case of Operation Promise in Sudan and the repatriation of Korean nationals from Israel -- both in 2023.

(A question-and-answer session followed.)

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