1. MIKTA will hold its second senior officials’ meeting (SOM) in Canberra, Australia, its current chair country, on January 28. In the meeting, the officials will review the progress in cooperation among the member countries of MIKTA and seek ways to make substantial progress in cooperation and its way forward.

2. MIKTA’s second SOM will come ahead of its seventh foreign ministerial meeting, which is slated for the first half of the year 2016. The forthcoming SOM’s main agenda items include ways to boost exchanges and cooperation among the MIKTA countries, including through its academic network; identifying regional and global agenda items that MIKTA is well equipped to contribute to; drawing up a guideline for outreach activities; and the plan for MIKTA’s seventh foreign ministerial meeting.

3. MIKTA has been vocal on various regional and global issues, including development cooperation, climate change, and responses to terrorism, as can be seen from its foreign ministers’ joint statement issued to deplore North Korea’s fourth nuclear test and to urge the country to comply with the relevant international norms. In order to “attain its middle-power diplomatic vision to contribute to international peace and prosperity,” the government of the Republic of Korea will continuously seek to play a role in resolving regional and global issues through MIKTA.


* unofficial translation