1. A meeting of next-generation leaders of the Republic of Korea and the Arab world, co-hosted by the Foreign Ministry and the Korea-Arab Society (KAS), was successfully held on December 27, with some 150 people in attendance, including KAS Secretary-General Choi Seung-hoh, Ambassador for Public Diplomacy Ma Young-sam, Director-General for African and Middle Eastern Affairs Song Woong-yeob, Iraqi Ambassador Al-Mosawi and other Arab diplomats stationed in the ROK, and representatives of Arab students in Korea as well as ROK students.

2. In the meeting, organized to build a human network and promote exchanges between next-generation leaders of the two regions, Ambassador Ma Young-sam explained public diplomacy to the college students from home and the Arab world, drawing keen interest from the participants.

3. The event is seen to have served as an opportunity for exchanges between the youth of the two regions and thereby contributed to establishing a ROK-friendly base as well as a human network among them. Plans are under review to make this event a regular one (once each in the first and second half of the year), with the Foreign Ministry, KAS and the Saudi Embassy in the ROK as its co-hosts.

                             Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFAT

* unofficial translation