1. The government of the Republic of Korea will dispatch Representative Kim Sun-dong of the ruling Saenuri Party as special envoy of the President to Botswana’s 50th Independence Day celebration, which will take place on September 29 and 30.

° During his visit to Botswana, Representative Kim will attend on September 29 the celebration on the eve of the Independence Day; as well as Botswana’s 50th Independence Day celebration and an official dinner on September 30.

2. The Republic of Korea is conducting cooperation projects in various fields, including economy, infrastructure, education and sports, and working closely together on the North Korean nuclear issue with Botswana, one of the ROK’s allies in Africa and an exemplary South African country that has been seeing a steady economic growth based on its stable governance.

° After the Commission of Inquiry (COI) on human rights in the DPRK issued a report in 2014, Botswana severed diplomatic relations with North Korea over the latter country’s human rights issue. On the heels of North Korea’s fifth nuclear test on September 9, Botswana issued a statement of condemnation, saying that the only solution to the North Korean nuclear issue is to consider severing diplomatic relations with North Korea, as it did. Vice President Mokgweetsi Masisi, in his keynote speech on September 23 at the 71st session of the UN General Assembly, strongly denounced North Korea by calling North Korea a rogue state and unqualified to be a member of the UN.

3. The dispatch of the special envoy of the President is expected to help take a notch higher the friendly and cooperative ties between the ROK and Botswana, which have been deepening since President Ian Khama’s official visit to the ROK in October 2015.


* unofficial translation