1. The 20th Republic of Korea-People's Republic of China meeting of directors-general for consular affairs took place at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on August 29, co-chaired by Director-General for Overseas Koreans and Consular Affairs the ROK Ministry of Foreign Affairs Woo In-shik and Director-General of the Department of Consular Affairs of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Guo Shaochun .

° In particular, the two sides shared the view that the 20^th meeting was important as an opportunity to seek ways to boost people-to-people exchanges between the two countries in a follow-up on the bilateral summit talks held in December 2017.

2. In the meeting, the two sides drew a common understanding that given the current situation where more than 10 million people of the two countries engage in exchanges annually since 2014 as well as the international standings of the two countries, they need to gradually improve their visa systems for each other.

° The two sides agreed to continue working-level consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and immigration authorities of the two countries to seek ways to streamline visa processing and ease requirements for obtaining multiple-entry visas.

3. The two sides, taking note of the recently improved fisheries order in the Yellow Sea, agreed to work together to keep it as is.

° The Chinese side mentioned that China attaches great significance to the fisheries issue between the ROK and the country and that its government is making strong efforts in that regard, including taking substantive measures and providing relevant guidance to fishermen. The ROK side asked the Chinese government to continue offering such guidance and to strengthen crackdowns; and explained the ROK government’s plan to continue enforcing law in accordance with the relevant law and procedures in a bid to prevent casualties and others that could hinder advances in bilateral relations.

4. In particular, the ROK side brought attention to the fact that with an annual 10 million people of the ROK and China engaging in people-to-people exchanges, concerns were rising over the possibility of casualties occurring in the event of large-scale transportation accidents, terrorist attacks and natural disasters. The ROK delegation went on to stress that in order to minimize damage to ROK nationals in China, it is necessary to set up a cooperative channel between Chinese authorities and the ROK diplomatic missions in China to respond jointly to such cases; and suggested establishing a hotline between the ROK’s diplomatic missions in China and disaster response authorities of the country.

° The Chinese side responded positively to the ROK delegation’s proposal, adding that the proposal will be relayed to relevant government agencies of China and that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will cooperate strongly in that regard.

5. The two sides agreed to hold the 21^st ROK-China meeting of directors-general for consular affairs in Seoul at an appropriate time in 2019.

* unofficial translation