1.On the sidelines of the 68th Session of the UN General Assembly, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se met bilaterally with his Peruvian counterpart Eda Rivas on September 26. In the meeting, the two Ministers discussed ways to boost substantive cooperation between the Republic of Korea and Peru in a wide range of fields.

2. Minister Yun took note of the remarkable advances in the bilateral relations in various sectors achieved on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations this year as well as through robust summit diplomacy and the bilateral “comprehensive strategic partnership” forged in September 2012. He voiced his hope that the two countries will further advance their cooperative ties by building on these achievements.

º Minister Rivas relayed Peruvian President Ollanta Humala’s message expressing his hope for a continued expansion of and advances in the bilateral ties. The Minister voiced her hope to further increase substantive cooperation with the ROK, one of Peru’s major cooperation partners.

3. Minister Yun expressed satisfaction with the steady increase in bilateral trade and investment since the entry of the ROK-Peru FTA into force in August 2011 and growing cooperation in a wide range of sectors, including not only economic exchanges but also defense industry, security, resources, energy, and development.

4. Minister Rivas mentioned that the Peruvian government, having selected the fields of education, talent training and technical innovation as the main engines for national development, will focus on pursuing them. She expressed her hope that the ROK government will work closely with Peru in the fields by inviting Peruvians to scholarship programs in the ROK and sharing its technology.

º In response, Minister Yun spoke of the ROK’s plan to share its development experiences and technology with Peru, one of the ROK’s key official development assistance (ODA) partners, through its education program for Peru’s high-level government officials in the ROK later this year and the establishment of a center of the Korea Project on International Agriculture (KOPIA) in Peru.

5. Minister Yun asked for the Peruvian government’s keen interest in and support for Korean companies’ bids to expand their presence in the latter’s large-scale infrastructure construction projects involving airports, road and ports as well as the development of energy and resources. He also took note of robust cooperation between the two countries in defense industry and security, including KT-1 trainer jets and smart patrol vehicles. He expressed his hope to work together to maintain this momentum of cooperation.

6. The two Ministers appreciated close bilateral cooperation at the UN and other international organizations with regard to issues concerning the Korean Peninsula and others. They agreed to work closely together on matters of mutual concern at regional cooperation mechanisms, including the Pacific Alliance, the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

7. The ROK-Peru Foreign Ministers’ meeting, the first of its kind since the launch of the Park Geun-hye government, served as an opportunity to expand substantive cooperation in a mutually beneficial manner with Peru, with which the ROK is seeing an increase in substantive cooperation in a wide range of fields. 


                   Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

*unofficial translation