1. For the “Republic of Korea-Japan junior diplomats exchange program,” an official of the ROK Foreign Ministry will visit the Japanese Foreign Ministry from November 20 till December 1, with an official of the Japanese Foreign Ministry expected to visit the ROK Foreign Ministry at an appropriate time in the near future.

2. This exchange program started in a follow-up to the “Joint Declaration on a New ROK-Japan Partnership towards the 21st Century,” which had been adopted in October 1998 by then President Kim Dae-jung of the ROK and then Prime Minister Obuchi of Japan. The program, after being conducted from 1999 till 2001, was suspended and then resumed in 2012 following the agreement between the two countries to that effect.

3. The exchange program is expected to help enhance mutual understanding and trust between working-level diplomats and increase exchanges between the Foreign Ministries of the two countries, thereby playing a role in the efforts to promote friendship and cooperation between the two countries.


* unofficial translation