1. On the occasion of the 73^rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Kyung-wha attended the 3rd Troika Foreign Ministers’ Meeting of the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) on September 27. In the meeting, the foreign ministers of six countries exchanged views on the current state of FEALAC cooperation and the organization’s way forward.

※ FEALAC is the only multilateral inter-governmental consultative mechanism between East Asia (16 countries) and Latin America (20 countries) launched in 1999 to promote mutual understanding, friendship and cooperation between the two regions.

* The FEALAC Troika, formally launched in 2016 at the ROK’s proposal, is an annually convened high-level consultative mechanism composed of the previous, current and next Regional Coordinators for East Asia and Latin America.

- The 2018 meeting brought together delegates from the Republic of Korea, the Kingdom of Thailand, the Republic of Costa Rica, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, the Republic of Guatemala and the Dominican Republic.

2. In the meeting, the foreign ministers reviewed the progress in the implementation of the key measures stipulated in the Busan Declaration, which is the outcome document of the 8th FEALAC Foreign Ministers’ Meeting hosted by the ROK government in 2017; and discussed in depth the way forward for FEALAC, set to mark its 20^th anniversary in 2019.

3. The ROK, the chair of the FEALAC Fund Steering Committee, shared with the other participating countries information regarding the Fund operation, the progress in the Fund’s cooperation projects and its future operational plans; and asked for cooperation for the successful operation of the Fund.

° The participants, highlighting the importance of the efficient use of the Fund, commended the ROK government's leadership over the establishment of the Fund and during the initial stage of its operation.

4. The FEALAC Troika Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on September 27 marked the third of its kind. The Troika meeting, which takes place to complement the biennially held FEALAC Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, is seen to have fully established itself as FEALAC’s inter-sessional foreign ministerial meeting.

° The third FEALAC Troika Foreign Ministers’ Meeting also served as an opportunity for the member states of the Troika to reaffirm the leading role and contribution of the ROK in implementing the measures stipulated in the Busan Declaration.

* unofficial translation