1. On August 30, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, who visited Busan to attend the 8th FEALAC Foreign Ministers’ meeting, began her visit with a joint meeting with the vice foreign ministers from six Latin American countries -- Colombia, Chile, El Salvador, Venezuela, Paraguay and the Dominican Republic -- who are on a visit to the Republic of Korea to attend the Foreign Ministers’ meeting.

2. In the meeting, Minister Kang issued a stern condemnation of the behavior of North Korea, which is continuing provocations, including repeated ballistic missile launches, despite constant warnings from the ROK and the international community, and explained the ROK government’s position of strongly responding to such provocations in close cooperation with the international community, including through the Security Council.

o Minister Kang said that by adopting the “Busan Declaration” at the upcoming Foreign Ministers’ meeting, she wants to reaffirm the FEALAC member states’ commitment to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula and resolve the North Korean nuclear issue peacefully, and also wants to send East Asian and Latin American countries’ united message to North Korea. She asked for Latin American countries’ support to do so.

3. Minister Kang expected that the forthcoming meeting, where the New Action Plan will be adopted and the FEALAC fund will be established, will serve as an opportunity for FEALAC, the only intergovernmental multilateral cooperative mechanism between East Asia and Latin America, to take a leap forward. In this regard, she explained the importance and significance of the meeting, and asked for Latin American countries’ active participation and contribution to achieve results.

4. Furthermore, Minister Kang took note of the development of the relations between the ROK and Latin American countries, which are the ROK’s traditional allies emerging as major trade and investment partners. She hoped that the ROK and Latin America will maximize their potential for cooperation by developing a model for win-win and sustainable cooperation.


* unofficial translation