1. Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and Minister of Science, ICT and Future Planning Choi Mun-kee signed an “agreement between the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on international cooperation to realize a creative economy” at the Foreign Ministry on July 9. The two sides agreed to cooperate to realize a creative economy by strengthening science and technology diplomacy.

o In addition to the two Ministries, officials from related agencies, including KOICA Director Jang Hyun-sik and President of National Research Foundation Lee Seung-jong also attended the signing ceremony and decided to join cooperation projects between the two Ministries.

2. At the signing ceremony, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se stressed the importance of a creative economy, which creates new industries, markets and jobs by taking advantage of each individual’s imagination and creativity in science, technology and ICT.

o Foreign Minister Yun added that the ROK needs to secure new growth engines for the economy by ensuring that its excellent human resources and world-class science, technology and ICT make inroads into overseas markets. The Minister emphasized that the cooperation between the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the calling of our time.

3. Minister of Science, ICT and Future Planning Choi Mun-kee said that his Ministry will create new jobs and markets through creation and innovation and make best efforts to ultimately open an era of happiness of the people by strengthening global leadership in creative economy.

o Mentioning that there is a limit to achieving a creative economy only with domestic resources, Minister Choi offered to maximize the synergistic effect by combining his Ministry’s expertise and the Foreign Ministry’s diplomatic resources and to contribute together to globalizing creative economy in economic growth and job creation.

4. In the aforementioned agreement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning agreed to cooperate in pushing forward a variety of globalization projects in the fields of science, technology and ICT, including: developing joint research and development projects with developed countries and promising cooperation partner countries; building and operating the network for science, technology and ICT; supporting venture companies and SMEs’ entry into foreign markets; pursuing ODA projects based on science, technology and ICT resources; and participating in enacting and revising international standards and regulations on new industries of the future.

5. Ahead of the signing ceremony, the two Ministries designated 34 overseas diplomatic missions of the ROK as bases for science, technology and ICT. The designated missions will set up a support system for science, technology and ICT in the process of implementing the aforementioned cooperation projects.

o Developed countries in science and technology, including the UK, Germany and Switzerland, are actively pursuing science and technology diplomacy, making use of their overseas diplomatic missions. The designation of 34 overseas missions as bases is expected to significantly increase the ROK’s capacity in science and technology diplomacy.

6. Furthermore, the two Ministries agreed to actively cooperate to successfully host the Seoul Conference on Cyberspace 2013 and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Plenipotentiary Conference to be held in 2014. 


                     Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

*unofficial translation