1. Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul met with New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Winston Raymond Peters, in Brussels on Thursday, April 4, on the occasion of the NATO Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Belgium. In the meeting, they exchanged their views on bilateral relations, and economic and trade cooperation, as well as regional and international issues.

2. Foreign Minister Cho highlighted the significance of this meeting as the first high-level meeting since the inauguration of the new government in New Zealand last November. He emphasized the importance of further enhancing high-level exchanges between the two countries. Minister Peters agreed and stressed the importance of cooperation with Korea, New Zealand’s trusted partner in the region. Both ministers suggested that the two countries, as like-minded countries in the Indo-Pacific region, continue strategic communication to expand joint efforts and deepen cooperation in the region.

3. The two ministers said that the two countries maintain a close relationship based on a mutually complementary trade structure, and appreciated that the Korea-New Zealand FTA, which will mark its 10th anniversary next year, is serving as an important foundation for expanding trade and promoting economic cooperation between the two countries, while agreeing to continue its development in the future.

4. Furthermore, the ministers expressed grave concerns about North Korea’s nuclear and missile development and provocations, which threaten the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and the world. They resolved to continue their cooperation to enhance the international community’s unified response to the illegal military cooperation between Russia and North Korea. Additionally, they engaged in extensive discussions on issues of common interest such as the situation in Northeast Asia and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region.

5. This Korea-New Zealand Foreign Ministers’ Meeting was the first one between the two Foreign Ministers since their inauguration, and they pledged to continue to communicate closely and foster this bilateral relationship in a substantial way.