- Discussion on Korea’s support for stabilization of rural communities in Northern Central America in follow-up to Korea-U.S. Summit and Korea-SICA Summit
- Seeking ways for expanding bilateral cooperation with Guatemala

1. Following its visits to Colombia and Costa Rica, a delegation composed of officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Rural Development Administration (RDA) visited Guatemala from July 8 to 10 (Head of delegation: Dr. Kwon Taek-Ryoun, Director-General of the Technology Cooperation Bureau of the RDA) and held a Korea-Northern Central America Forum on Agricultural Cooperation on July 9, bringing together Ministers and Vice Ministers of Agriculture of the Northern Central American countries, which are Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.

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° Deputy Minister for Economic Affairs of the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lee Seong-ho, head of the Korean delegation Kwon Taek-Ryoun, Vice Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food of Guatemala José Duro, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guatemala Shirley Aguilar, Minister of Agriculture and Livestock of El Salvador Hector David and Undersecretary of Agriculture of Honduras David Wainwright participated in the forum in person, while officials of agricultural and forest organizations of the three Northern Central American countries attended the event online.

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- Deputy Minister for Economic Affairs of Korea Lee Seong-ho separately visited Guatemala from July 9 to 10.

2. In his opening remarks, Deputy Minister for Economic Affairs Lee Seong-ho affirmed that Korea will support sustainable and comprehensive growth of Northern Central America through mutually beneficial cooperation in the fields of agriculture and forestry on the basis of Korea's commitment to expanding cooperation with Central America expressed in the Korea-U.S. Summit and the Korea-SICA Summit.

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° In his welcoming remarks, Vice Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food of Guatemala José Duro expressed his gratitude to the Korean government for its support on cooperative projects in response to climate change. He also hoped that the two sides would expand cooperation on digital and eco-friendly agricultural technology and exchange experience in farming in order to overcome a series of challenges faced by the Northern Central American countries such as climate change, natural disasters and food security.

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° In his keynote presentation, head of delegation Kwon Taek-Ryoun introduced △major achievements in agricultural development in Korea, △a future direction for rural development including smart farming, and △the current state of development cooperation with Latin America in the field of agriculture such as the Korea-Latin America Food and Agriculture Cooperation Initiative (KoLFACI) and the Korea Program for International Cooperation in Agricultural Technology (KOPIA). Also, he suggested ways for expanding digital and eco-friendly agricultural cooperation.

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° The participants recognized major challenges faced by the Northern Central American countries in the field of agriculture and the potential for agricultural cooperation between Korea and the region. They also discussed ways for stabilizing rural communities in Northern Central America through cooperation on agricultural technology and reforestation.

3. In addition, Deputy Minister for Economic Affairs Lee Seong-ho paid a courtesy visit to Foreign Minister of Guatemala Pedro Brolo and had a meeting with Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Shirley Aguilar on July 9. They discussed ways for expanding trade and investment, cooperation for the development of Northern Central America, digital and green cooperation, and cooperation on health and medical care, among others.

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° Foreign Minister Brolo expressed his deep gratitude to Korea for its support and cooperation for progress of bilateral relations and the stabilization of Northern Central America. He hoped that friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries would expand and advance as next year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties, and asked for the Korean government’s collaboration for smooth progress in negotiations on Guatemala’s bid to join the Korea-Central America FTA.

4. On his part, head of delegation Kwon Taek-Ryoun paid a courtesy visit to Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food of Guatemala José López on July 9, with whom he discussed ways for expanding bilateral projects for development cooperation in response to climate change. The two sides agreed to further promote exchanges and cooperation in the field of agriculture between the two countries on the occasion of upcoming international events scheduled to take place in Korea such as the International Coffee Symposium (September 2021) and the KoLFACI General Assembly (April 2022), as this year marks the bicentennial of the independence of Central America and next year the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Korea and Guatemala.

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° Moreover, during the Korea-Guatemala high-level meeting on agriculture, Guatemala expressed its gratitude for Korea’s cooperation in agricultural technology through KoLFACI that has contributed to the sustainable agricultural development in Guatemala, and requested Korea’s continued attention to and support for the stabilization of rural communities in Guatemala.

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° The two sides shared the view that establishing a KOPIA office in Guatemala will contribute to promoting agricultural cooperation including the introduction of digital agriculture in response to climate change in Guatemala and Northern Central America, and agreed to cooperate further.

5. The visits of the delegation to Colombia, Costa Rica and Guatemala are seen to have served as an opportunity to lay a foundation for concretely fulfilling Korea's commitment to expanding cooperation with Latin America and supporting the stabilization of the three Northern Central American countries, which was expressed in a series of summits including the Korea-U.S. Summit, the Korea-Spain Summit and the Korea-SICA Summit.

° Furthermore, they also served as an opportunity to enhance mutually beneficial cooperation through a nexus between Korea’s advanced eco-friendly and digital agricultural technology and Latin America’s rich biodiversity, as well as to further strengthen the leading role of Korea, the host country of the P4G Seoul Summit, in the inclusive green recovery of the international community.