1. First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Lim Sung-nam met with President Sergey Mikhaylov of Russia’s Tass news agency at the Foreign Ministry on June 5, during which the two sides exchanged views on a wide range of matters, including ways to advance the Republic of Korea-Russia relations and to promote the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

※ Tass news agency is Russia’s largest news agency founded in 1902. It has some 120 correspondents in 79 countries and provides news services in five languages -- English, French, Spanish, Arabic and German.

- Tass President Mikhaylov is on a visit to the ROK from June 4 till 6 to sign the agreement to join the PyeongChang News Service Network (PNN), the news content-sharing platform for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics developed by Yonhap News Agency, the host news agency for the upcoming Winter Games.

2. Vice Minister Lim brought attention to the fact that since its launch, the new ROK government has been holding meaningful consultations with Russia, including through the telephone conversation between their Presidents on May 12 and during the visit to Russia by a special envoy of the ROK President from May 22 to 25, to seek an early bilateral summit meeting as well as substantial progress in development cooperation in Russia’s Far East region and in other aspects of bilateral relations. He added that exchanges and cooperation between the parliaments of the two countries are also on the rise, as can be seen from the second Meeting of Speakers of Eurasian Countries' Parliaments to come in Seoul from June 26 to 28.

3. In addition, Vice Minister Lim voiced hope that Tass and Korean media outlets, by cooperating more closely with each other in covering the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, will contribute greatly to the efforts to advance the ROK-Russia relations. On that note, he asked that Tass, by covering the PyeongChang Winter Games, help the people of Russia learn more about and build a sense of closeness to the ROK.

° President Mikhaylov, citing the growing expectations for further progress in the ROK-Russia ties ahead of the upcoming publication of a Korean-translated version of a book written by an archbishop of the Russian Orthodox Church and the planned visit to the ROK by Volodin, speaker of the lower house of the Russian parliament, expressed hope that ROK-Russia summit talks will take place as soon as possible in 2017.

° Calling the PyeongChang Winter Olympics a good opportunity for many Russians to visit the ROK, the Tass President stated that utmost efforts will be made to provide the Russian people with information on not only sports but also other aspects of the ROK.

4. The meeting between Vice Minister Lim and Tass President Mikhaylov came as part of the efforts to implement the ROK’s policy to strengthen public diplomacy toward Russia. It is seen to have served as a good opportunity to help the leading media outlet of Russia better understand the new ROK government’s policy to substantially move its strategic partnership with Russia forward as well as an opportunity to promote the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in Russia.


* unofficial translation