1. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha held the 3rd Korea-Pacific Islands Foreign Ministers’ Meeting*** with her counterparts from thirteen Pacific Island Countries (PICs)* and the representative from the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Secretariat** at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul on December 5.

* Thirteen Pacific Island Countries (PICs): the Cook Islands, the Republic of Fiji, the Republic of Kiribati, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Nauru, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu

** Pacific Islands Forum (PIF): major regional consultative mechanism in the South Pacific consisting of 16 Pacific Island Countries, Australia and New Zealand

*** The Korea-Pacific Islands Foreign Ministers’ Meeting takes place every three years. The first meeting was held in May 2011, and the second meeting was held in November 2014.

2. The 3rd Korea-Pacific Islands Foreign Ministers’ Meeting was held under the theme “Sustainable Development for a Green and Blue Pacific.” Minister Kang and the representatives from the Pacific Island Countries discussed in detail the progress and accomplishments that have been achieved so far in cooperation projects in the areas of development cooperation, climate change, and maritime and fisheries cooperation.

o In addition, regarding the situation in the region, the participants strongly condemned North Korea’s repeated nuclear and missile provocations, and reaffirmed their commitment to thoroughly and fully implementing relevant Security Council resolutions, including a resolution to deregister any North Korean trading or fishing vessels that are currently flagged on Pacific states’ shipping registers.

3. (Development cooperation) The PIC Ministers took note that the ROK’s development assistance has significantly contributed to their efforts to build self-supporting economies. Minister Kang said that considering the PICs’ geographical accessibility, infrastructural conditions, and vulnerabilities to climate change and disasters, the ROK will further expand the scope of cooperation in 2018 to cover education, public health, agriculture and fisheries infrastructure, the improvement of distribution structure, legal reform, and women’s participation in society.

o The PIC Ministers noted with appreciation that since 2008, the ROK has conducted the most suitable projects tailored to the needs and conditions of the PICs, including the climate prediction services project and the project to control illegal fishing and marine pollution activities, through the ROK-PIF* Cooperation Fund (RPCF). Minister Kang talked about the ROK’s efforts to increase its annual grants to the RPCF, and ways to establish a cooperation platform to expand trade, investment and people-to-people exchanges between the ROK and the PICs.

* The ROK joined the PIF as a dialogue partner in 1995.

4. (Climate change) The two sides reaffirmed once again that climate change is a challenge that humanity needs to deal with together, and agreed to work together to find areas for mutually-beneficial cooperation which can contribute to both the PICs’ environmentally-friendly development through renewable energy and job creation, and Korean companies’ efforts to build their presence in the area.

o Minister Kang said that as a country that is hosting the Green Climate Fund (GCF) Secretariat and that led the establishment of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), the ROK has worked to carry out a range of cooperation projects for countries vulnerable to climate change. The PIC side expressed full confidence and support for the ROK government’s activities, and asked the ROK to continue to pursue such projects.

5. (Maritime and fisheries cooperation) Minister Kang said that the ROK government and the PICs, its long-time partners in the maritime and fisheries area, are working to cooperate in a range of areas, including not only fishing, but the development of monitoring and controlling technologies to eradicate overfishing and other illegal fishing activities, the establishment of harbor infrastructure, and the exploration of marine resources. The PIC side said that cooperation with the ROK has contributed to promoting the Blue Economy in both sides, and offered to further strengthen partnerships for mutually-beneficial cooperation.

o The ROK side said that the ROK is pursuing projects in a range of areas, including ODA programs in the maritime and fisheries area, the development of a pilot ocean thermal energy conversion plant (Kiribati), and the establishment of the World Fisheries University, and asked for active support from the PIC side.

6. (Regional situation) Minister Kang and the PIC Ministers made it clear that North Korea’s repeated nuclear and missile provocations pose a threat not only to the Korean Peninsula, but to the entire international community, including the Pacific region, and condemned the provocations in one voice.

o In particular, the PIC Ministers shared their countries’ experience of suffering serious damage and pain due to repeated nuclear tests in the Pacific ocean before and after the Pacific War, and said that such tragedy of mankind should not be repeated, taking note of the ROK government’s efforts to promote peace and stability in the region.

7. The meeting helped the ROK government expand its diplomatic horizons to the Pacific region, which has abundant energy sources of the future. It is also expected to help the two sides further strengthen people-centered and mutually-beneficial partnerships by widening and deepening tangible cooperation in areas of mutual interest.


* unofficial translation