1. Former Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the United States Choi Young-jin will attend in his capacity as special envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs the state funeral for the late former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, which will take place in Accra, the Republic of Ghana, on September 13. The former UN Secretary-General passed away on August 18.

※ The funeral will be attended by UN Secretary-General António Guterres and other major figures of the international community and Africa.

2. Special envoy Choi Young-jin has close ties with the UN and Africa, built during his service as Assistant Secretary-General in the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) in 1998-1999 and as the ROK’s Ambassador to the UN in 2005-2007 -- while the late former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan was in office in 1997-2006; and as Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Côte d'Ivoire in 2007.

3. The ROK government extended condolences over the passing of the former UN Secretary-General in the President’s message dated August 19 and in the statement issued by the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on August 18 as well as during Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Kyung-wha’s visit to the Ghanaian Embassy in the ROK on August 23.

° Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan earned respect as a leader of the international community who devoted his life to and made multiple achievements in world peace, the eradication of poverty and diseases, and the revitalization of the UN. He also consistently expressed support for the ROK government’s policy toward the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

※ In his press interview on October 15, 1998, during his visit to the ROK to be awarded a Seoul Peace Prize, the former UN Secretary-General stated that he was inspired by the Sunshine Policy and that inter-Korean talks should continue. In the letter he sent to the ROK President on March 28, 2018, ahead of an inter-Korean summit, he commended the President’s courage and expressed firm support.

* unofficial translation