1. The 2016 meeting of the chiefs of the Republic of Korea’s overseas diplomatic missions will take place at the Foreign Ministry from March 14 through 18, bringing together about 170 mission chiefs, including the Ambassadors and the Consuls-General.

2. At the meeting, the mission chiefs will mainly discuss ways to implement diplomacy for addressing the North Korean nuclear issue and for a peace unification of the Korean Peninsula; diplomacy for supporting the restoration of economic vitality; diplomacy for a better protection of Koreans overseas whose effects are felt by the people; and public diplomacy together with the people. They will also review diplomatic strategies for attaining the policy goals of the Park Geun-hye government and seek specific ways to implement the strategies.

° The event will consist mainly of in-depth discussions on the aforementioned themes and group discussions on different regions of the world; a visit to a security-related facility (the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjeom); a visit to an economic innovation site; meetings with Korean entrepreneurs; and activities to promote public diplomacy (a visit to a cultural and art facility and a meeting with relevant experts).

2. With regard to diplomacy for addressing the North Korean nuclear issue and for a peace unification of the Korean Peninsula, the mission chiefs will explore strategies for inducing North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions and change its behavior amid the grave situation where the ROK, together with the international community, is seeking North Korea’s change, including by adopting a UN Security Council sanctions resolution on the North. They will also discuss the role and tasks of the overseas missions in laying a diplomatic foundation for a peaceful unification of the Korean Peninsula; and visit Panmunjeom to see for themselves the security situation.

° In the group discussions, the diplomats will discuss ways to make substantial progress in the Northeast Asia Peace and Cooperation Initiative, which aims to improve the security situation in the region. They will also seek a variety of mutually beneficial projects to be conducted with Eurasian countries as well as specific ways to implement them in order to fulfill the ROK government’s Eurasia Initiative.

3. With respect to diplomacy for supporting the restoration of economic vitality, the mission heads will focus on the role that the overseas missions should play as outposts for the restoration of the ROK’s economic vitality, including helping Korean companies land overseas orders, export defense products and operate overseas, and helping Koreans seek employment overseas, amid the global economic uncertainty heightened by China’s slowing economic growth and falling oil prices of late. In particular, at the 700-odd meetings with entrepreneurs, which have been scheduled for May 17, the diplomats will learn in person about challenges facing Korean companies operating in foreign countries and discuss with them ways to help them in that regard. In addition, they will visit Pangyo Techno Valley to see for themselves how the economic innovation is moving forward.

4. On diplomacy for a better protection of overseas Koreans whose effects are felt by the people, the mission chiefs will review the measures that the ROK has put in place to protect overseas Koreans, including raising public awareness of the government’s travel-alert system and enhanced capacity to respond to incidents and accidents, and discuss possible measures for the future, amid the rapid increase in the number of Koreans falling victim to crimes overseas and indiscriminate terrorist attacks on civilians across the world in the wake of the terrorist attack in Paris. With regard to ways to implement public diplomacy together with the people, the diplomats will visit a cultural-and-art industrial facility and hold a meeting with public diplomacy experts in order to reflect their opinions in future public diplomacy activities.

5. At the 2016 meeting of the mission chiefs to multilateral organizations on March 17, the diplomats will review the accomplishments in multilateral diplomacy and priority tasks in the field for the year 2016, and explore ways to enhance the ROK’s standing on the multilateral stage and increase the synergetic effect from the ROK’s bilateral and multilateral diplomacy.

6. The meeting of the mission chiefs will come amid the grave situation created by North Korea’s fourth nuclear test and launch of a long-range missile as well as the most fluid and uncertain global economic situation ever triggered by China’s slowing economic growth and falling prices of oil and raw materials. As such, it is expected to serve as a valuable opportunity to discuss the role of the overseas diplomatic missions in efficiently addressing the North Korean nuclear issue and supporting the restoration of the ROK’s economic vitality, as well as specific ways to play that role.


* unofficial translation