1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together with the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Korea and the Seoul National University Asia Center (SNUAC), held the 8th Korea-EU International Conference on Middle Eastern and North African Affairs at the Shilla Hotel Seoul on August 28. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has held the International Conference on Middle Eastern and North African Affairs since 2015, providing a platform for domestic and international experts to engage in open dialogue on Middle East issues.

※ Main speakers: Camille Lons (Deputy Head of the Paris Office of the European Council on Foreign Relations), Selçuk Aydın (Assistant Professor of Boğaziçi University), Hugh Lovatt (Senior Policy Fellow with the MENA Programme of the European Council on Foreign Relations), Aurelio Insisa (Senior Research Fellow for Asia at the Istituto Affari Internazionali), Mehran Kamrava (Professor of Government at Georgetown University Qatar), etc.

2. Ambassador and Deputy Minister for Public Diplomacy Hong Seok-in underscored in his welcoming remarks the importance of the international community working to end violence through diplomatic means at the earliest possible moment in light of rising instability in the Middle East due to the recent Gaza crisis. He further highlighted that the ROK, as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, is committed to playing an active role in the international community’s efforts to resolve conflicts in the Middle East. In addition, Fredrik Ekfeldt, the Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Korea, and Chae Suhong, the Director of Seoul National University Asia Center, also stressed the importance of this conference in their welcoming remarks.

3. In particular, Nasser Saidi, the former Minister of Economy and Trade of Lebanon, highlighted in his keynote speech on “International Order and the Changing Situation in the Middle East” that the Israel-Hamas conflict is imposing significant economic and political costs across the Middle East, emphasizing that not only Gulf countries but also Korea should be more actively involved in the peace building process, such as the reconstruction of Gaza.

4. At the conference, discussions focused on three subtopics : "World Order Change and Changes in the US’s MENA Policy," "Peace-Building Measures in the Middle East after the Israel-Hamas Conflict," and "Implications of the Middle East Conflicts on the Security of the Korean Peninsula.“

5. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to engage in constructive exchanges of views with both domestic and international experts and strengthen the basis for establishing a substantive Middle East policy.