1. On the occasion of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha met bilaterally with Secretary for Relations with States of the Vatican City State Paul Gallagher on September 28 and discussed with him the Republic of Korea-Vatican relations and the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

2. Minister Kang extended appreciation to Pope Francis for issuing messages over such major events as inter-Korean and US-North Korea summit talks to express wish for peace on the Korean Peninsula; and asked the Vatican City State to remain attentive to and supportive of the efforts to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula.

※ Since his inauguration, Pope Francis has issued nine messages for the ROK, including in the hope of the success of the US-North Korea summit talks (June 10) and in support of the inter-Korean summit meeting (April 27) and its positive results (April 29).

3. Secretary Gallagher, viewing the outcome of the third inter-Korean summit meeting in a positive light, emphasized the importance of the ROK government’s commitment to lead the efforts to move forward the inter-Korean relations and the denuclearization process.

4. With the year 2018 marking the 55th anniversary of the ROK-Vatican diplomatic relations, the Minister and the Secretary agreed to boost already-robust exchanges and thereby further enhance the bilateral relations.

* unofficial translation