1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will hold in Bangkok, the Kingdom of Thailand, on August 31 the 2018 meeting of heads of the Republic of Korea’s diplomatic missions in the South Asia-Pacific region. The meeting will be chaired by Deputy Minister for Political Affairs Yoon Soon-gu and bring together 31 mission heads.

2. The South Asia-Pacific region is an important region that includes ASEAN and the Republic of India, the ROK’s main partners in implementing its New Southern Policy; the Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand, major countries in the Pacific; and countries in Southwest Asia and near the Indian Ocean whose geopolitical significance is growing. A large number of those countries are in close relations with the ROK in terms of diplomacy, security, economy and culture, and have lately been seeing their presence and strategic significance grow greatly on the international stage.

3. At the meeting to be focused on the New Southern Policy, which the ROK government has been implementing as its top priority, the mission heads will review the progress in the implementation of the Policy and seek ways to move it forward down the road. They will also discuss in depth the role that the diplomatic missions in the South Asia-Pacific region should play with regard to the Policy; ways to broaden the scope of the Policy and to implement it in a manner that is harmonious with the Indo-Pacific initiative; and official development assistance (ODA) strategies under the New Southern Policy.

4. In addition, the meeting will serve as an opportunity to commend the heads of the diplomatic missions in the South Asia-Pacific region for their hard work at the ROK’s diplomatic forefront despite difficult working conditions; to gather opinions and suggestions of diplomatic missions and to learn about their challenges; and to discuss ways to innovate the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the overseas diplomatic missions.

* unofficial translation