1. On March 18, the last day of the 2016 meeting of the chiefs of the Republic of Korea’s overseas diplomatic missions, the Foreign Ministry held a special session on “diplomacy for development cooperation aimed at contributing to sustainable development.” In the meeting chaired by Second Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, the mission chiefs discussed ways for the ROK government to carry out diplomacy for development cooperation in 2016.

2. In his opening remarks at the event, Vice Minister Cho mentioned that the ROK, as an exemplary middle-power donor country, should contribute actively to efforts to attain the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in developing countries and asked the mission chiefs to play active roles to that end.

3. Ambassador to the UN Oh Joon and Ambassador to the OECD Yoon Jong-won, designated discussants at the meeting, explained the progress in the discussions at the UN and the OECD on SDGs, while Ambassador to Uganda Park Jong-dae shared with the other mission chiefs the experiences of supporting the implementation of the SDGs at development cooperation sites.

4. The participating mission chiefs shared the view that as the ROK’s international standing has been upgraded to a much higher level than in the past and the international community has higher-than-ever expectations of the ROK in terms of contributing to the international community, the ROK should actively conduct diplomacy for development cooperation.

5. In 2016, the Foreign Ministry will carry out diplomacy for development cooperation mainly by seeking substantial progress in initiatives for development cooperation, such as the “Better Life for Girls” initiative; conducting humanitarian diplomacy as the ROK’s signature “brand” of diplomacy; and improving the effectiveness of development cooperation and strengthening relevant capacity.


* unofficial translation