1. Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se held a telephone conversation with Mexican Foreign Minister Meade on August 8 and engaged in a broad exchange of views on ways to enhance the ROK-Mexico cooperation in bilateral and global issues.

o The telephone conversation was held just about two months after a bilateral meeting took place in June in Bali, Indonesia on the sidelines of the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. In the meeting, the two Ministers agreed to discuss major issues of mutual concern through telephone calls in any form.

2. In the phone conversation, noting the inauguration of the new governments in both countries this year, the two Ministers agreed to maintain the momentum and enhance bilateral relations in a variety of fields. In particular, they decided to facilitate exchanges between high-level officials, including heads of state, on various occasions in order to further deepen and develop the “strategic partnership” forged in 2005.

3. In addition, the two Ministers shared the view that the ROK and Mexico, the representative middle-power countries in the international community, need to take bigger responsibility and play the leading role in coping with a variety of challenges facing the international community based on their common values, similar positions on major global issues and cooperative relations. To this end, they agreed to launch a mechanism for international cooperation with other middle-power countries on the occasions of international meetings, including the UN General Assembly.

4. The cooperation with key middle-power countries is one of the Park Geun-hye government’s major policy tasks. The ROK government is pursuing the cooperation as part of its key foreign policy to enhance the ROK’s capability and status in the international community. The government will continue to actively work to develop various types of alliance and cooperation frameworks in regional and international meetings.

o On measures to do so, the ROK government has held bilateral consultations with many countries concerned. 

                    Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

* unofficial translation