1. On the sidelines of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se met with Foreign Minister Moussa Faki Mahamat of Chad at the UN headquarters on September 21. In their meeting, the two top diplomats discussed ways for the Republic of Korea and Chad, the chair country of the African Union (AU), to work more closely together on AU-related matters; the ROK-Chad relations; and the North Korean nuclear issue.

2. Minister Yun, commending President Idriss Deby of Chad for his activities after his taking office as AU Chairperson in January 2016, voiced hope for closer ROK-AU and ROK-Chad cooperation. He also extended an invitation to Minister Mahamat to the fourth ROK-Africa forum, which will take place in Addis Ababa on December 6 and 7.

° Minister Yun brought renewed attention to President Park Geun-hye’s address at the AU headquarters during her Africa tour in May, in which she had put forth the ROK’s policy toward Africa and direction of cooperation with the AU as well as a wide range of ideas regarding the ROK-Africa cooperation on economy, development, peace and people-to-people exchanges.

° The Minister also brought attention to the fact that during her tour, the President had pledged two million US dollars to the AU Peace Fund and an annual one million US dollars to the AU Cooperation Fund, up from the previous, annual 500,000. He added that the ROK and the AU are in consultations regarding the possible dispatch of additional ROK troops to Africa for peacekeeping operations. He suggested that the ROK, the AU and Chad continue consultations to seek cooperation in various fields.

3. Minister Mahamat, noting that the ROK is contributing greatly to the international community, especially in peacekeeping operations in Africa, extended appreciation to the country for such contributions as the dispatch of peacekeeping troops and donation to the AU Peace Fund.

° The Minister, calling the ROK’s development experiences a valuable asset to African countries, relayed Chad’s hope for closer development cooperation with the ROK and an expanded presence of private Korean companies in the resource-rich country.

4. Minister Yun brought attention to the fact that North Korea had conducted five nuclear tests in the 21st century, the only country to have done so, with the last round having taken only ten days before. The Minister, calling such actions of North Korea a grave threat to international peace and security, noted that the UN Security Council, having adopted an unprecedentedly strong sanctions resolution, is in consultations over the possible adoption of a new sanctions resolution in response to the recent provocation. He asked the AU and Chad, one of the ROK’s allies, to join the efforts to pressure North Korea and thereby to contribute to peace and security on the Korean Peninsula.

° Minister Mahamat mentioned that denuclearized pursuant to the African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty, Africa is free from such concerns, but if there were a neighbor like North Korea, it would bring fear to all around it. Calling the North Korean nuclear issue one that affects the global security, the Minister expressed support for efforts toward the denuclearization of North Korea. He proposed discussing the issue at the fourth ROK-Africa forum in Addis Ababa on December 6 and 7.

5. The ROK-Chad foreign ministerial meeting is seen to have served as an opportunity for the Foreign Ministers of the ROK and the AU’s chair country to follow up on the ROK President’s visit to the AU headquarters in May through discussions on ways to step up the ROK-AU cooperation on peace, security and development; and an opportunity to win cooperation from the AU’s chair country for the success of the fourth ROK-Africa forum in early December.


* unofficial translation