1. The 18th Meeting of Directors-General for Consular Affairs of the ROK and Japan took place in Tokyo, Japan, on March 4. It was chaired by Director-General for Overseas Koreans and Consular Affairs Lee Myung-yul of the ROK Foreign Ministry and Director-General of the Consular Affairs Bureau Mari Miyoshi of the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

2. The two sides welcomed the continued decline in illegal sojourn of and crimes by the other country’s nationals in their own countries since the bilateral visa waiver program was put in place in 2006. They agreed to continue to work together to prevent illegal sojourn of and crimes by their nationals in each other’s countries.

3. The two sides noted with appreciation the increase in youth exchanges between the two countries through the bilateral Working Holiday Program and agreed to cooperate to further expand bilateral people-to-people exchanges.

o The ROK side decided to work to co-host with Japan a briefing session on the Working Holiday Program for the youth of the two countries, which took place last year.

4. The two sides discussed issues of concern regarding protection of their nationals in each other’s countries and agreed to devise measures to cooperate in resolving problems that could arise when providing consular support. Concerning hate speech in Japan, they exchanged views on ways to protect the rights of Koreans in Japan and compensate for damages.

o They discussed a timely notification in case of an incident where a Korean died, and the release or transfer of a Korean prisoner, as well as measures to simplify administrative procedures in case of emergency incidents or accidents.

5. Besides, the two sides agreed to share their experiences in protecting their nationals in third countries amid the Ebola epidemic in Africa and the Middle East and the recent hostage incidents. They decided to further strengthen cooperation between diplomatic missions of the two countries in third countries.

6. The two sides reaffirmed that bilateral people-to-people exchanges are the foundation for developing the ROK-Japan relations and agreed to hold the 19th meeting in the ROK next year. 


                Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

*unofficial translation