1. During his visit to New York to attend the 71st session of the UN General Assembly, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se met bilaterally with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the UN headquarters on September 20. In their meeting, the two top diplomats discussed in depth possible responses to North Korea’s fifth nuclear test and ways to promote the friendship and cooperation between the Republic of Korea and Germany.

° The two Ministers, expressing satisfaction with continued advances in the friendly ties between their two countries, took note of the timeliness and comprehensiveness of bilateral consultations on issues concerning the Korean Peninsula and such global ones as the situation in Ukraine.

2. With regard to the North Korean nuclear issue, Minister Yun stressed to Minister Steinmeier that North Korea’s fifth nuclear test, different from the previous rounds in terms of the strength and interval, is a grave provocation conducted in flagrant violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2270. He asked Germany to toughen its and the EU’s unilateral sanctions.

° Minister Steinmeier, sharing Minister Yun’s view of North Korea’s nuclear test as a serious, unacceptable provocation, stated that Germany, in close cooperation with the ROK, will do everything in its power for the EU to effectively and strongly sanction and pressure North Korea.

3. The two Ministers, sharing the view that the ROK and Germany share the experiences of suffering from division and achieving a fast economic growth and, as such, are important partners to each other, agreed to continuously step up cooperation in a mutually beneficial manner.

° Minister Yun voiced expectation to Minister Steinmeier that Germany’s unification experience will serve as a useful guideline for the Korean Peninsula as it prepares for its own unification. In that light, he expressed hope that the upcoming fifth meeting of the Korean-German Advisory Group on the Foreign Policy towards Reunification will be successful and that the ROK and Germany will remain in communication on the unification issue.

4. The ROK-Germany foreign ministerial meeting marked the seventh of its kind since the two Ministers had taken up their current posts and the first in seven months since the one held on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in February. The meeting is seen to have contributed to efforts to step up bilateral coordination on bilateral, regional and global issues.


* unofficial translation