On the occasion of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on ASEAN 2018, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha met bilaterally with Foreign Minister Roberto Ampuero of Chile on September 11. In the meeting, the two top diplomats reviewed the progress in the Republic of Korea-Republic of Chile relations and exchanged views on ways to step up multilateral and substantive bilateral cooperation as well as the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

Minister Kang called Chile a special country for the ROK in that it became in 1949 the first Latin American country to endorse the government of the Republic of Korea and was the first country the ROK concluded an FTA with. She went on to note with appreciation that the two countries with such shared values as democracy, market economy and human rights had been moving forward friendly and cooperative relations between them.

 
Minister Ampuero, sharing Minister Kang’s view, voiced hope that the meeting, which came at an appropriate time amid the growing tide of trade protectionism of late, in particular, would serve as an opportunity to bolster substantive cooperation between the two countries in economy and other sectors.

With regard to the APEC summit 2019, Minister Ampuero expressed hope that the ROK would make constructive contributions by using its experiences and technology in e-commerce and other diverse fields.

Minister Kang stated that the ROK would make utmost efforts toward the success of the forthcoming APEC summit and work closely with its chair in the course of preparing for the event.

Minister Kang shared with her Chilean counterpart the current situation on the Korean Peninsula, asking the Chilean government to remain supportive of the efforts to achieve a complete denuclearization and establish peace on the Korean Peninsula. 

Minister Ampuero responded that Chile had consistently been supporting the ROK government’s position regarding the North Korean nuclear issue and would remain cooperative on that issue.

The two Ministers reaffirmed commitment to working together on the ROK’s bid to join the Pacific Alliance as an associate member as well as on economic and trade matters, including the negotiations for the improvement of the ROK-Chile FTA; and to stepping up substantive cooperation in such areas as information and communications technology (ICT), Antarctic affairs, and health and medical care.

Minister Kang asked the Chilean government to pay attention to bids of Korean enterprises to take part in its infrastructure-building projects.

Minister Ampuero took note of the close ROK-Chile cooperation on Antarctic-related matters, one of Chile’s high priorities, including at the ROK-Chile antarctic cooperation center; and voiced hope to keep up this streak of cooperation.

The two top diplomats, citing the great potential for cooperation in the ICT field, agreed to explore ways to work together on cyber security, among others.

The ROK-Chile antarctic cooperation center, established at the Chilean Antarctic Institute in February 2016, supports a stable supply of goods to the King Sejong Antarctic Station and conducts bilateral and multilateral joint research.

The first ROK-Chile foreign ministerial meeting since the inaugurations of the new governments in the two countries is seen to have served as an opportunity to discuss matters of mutual concern and reaffirm the two countries’ commitment to the promotion of friendship and (substantive) cooperation.

* unofficial translation