1. The Foreign Ministry hosted an interagency meeting at the Ministry on June 15 to seek ways to protect the nationals of the Republic of Korea, including the athletes, cultural troupes, cheering squads and businesspeople, who will visit Rio de Janeiro during the 2016 Summer Olympics. The meeting, chaired by Ambassador for Overseas Koreans and Consular Affairs Han Dong-man, brought together officials from such relevant government agencies as the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Korean Olympic Committee, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the National Police Agency, and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA).

2. In his opening remarks at the meeting, Ambassador Han wished the Korean athletes good luck and advised that given the poor public security and healthcare environment in Rio, all the ROK nationals, including the athletes, planning to visit the city comply with safety regulations in order to prevent themselves from being subjected to crimes or diseases.

° The Ambassador mentioned that a temporary consular office will be set up in Rio to offer assistance to the ROK visitors involved in incidents or accidents and prevent them from being subjected to crimes and infectious diseases during the Olympics in August. He asked the ROK visitors to Rio in need of assistance to come to the temporary consular office for help.

3. Building on what was discussed at the interagency meeting, the government will fully implement comprehensive measures to ensure the safety of the ROK visitors to Rio.

° In particular, in order to effectively provide the up-to-date information on the public security and healthcare in Brazil and thereby prevent the ROK visitors from any mishaps in the country, the Foreign Ministry will put to active use its SNS accounts, short message services (SMSs), and its website on safe overseas travel at www.0404.go.kr.

° In a bid to brace for such large-scale disasters as terrorist attacks, other than usual incidents and accidents, the ROK government will step up cooperation with the relevant Brazilian authorities. Pursuant to the ROK-UK Memorandum of Understanding on Crisis Cooperation concluded in 2014, the two countries will work closely together on consular matters in Rio. The ROK government has also agreed with Control Risk, a global private company on crisis response, to share information on various forms of terrorist attacks and safety.


* unofficial translation