1. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha held a meeting and a luncheon with Foreign Minister of the Republic of Colombia Carlos Holmes Trujillo on December 17, during which the two top diplomats exchanged a wide range of views on ways to step up the Republic of Korea-Republic of Colombia relations and their substantive cooperation; ways to work together in addressing global issues; and the current situations on the Korean Peninsula and in Latin America.

※ Minister Trujillo is on an official visit to the ROK from December 15 till 19, the first of its kind since the inauguration of the new Colombian government.

2. Minister Kang noted with appreciation that the ROK and Colombia, the only Latin American country that fought alongside the former country in the Korean War and the former’s valuable cooperative partner that concluded a bilateral FTA with it, had continuously seen friendly and cooperative ties advance across the board since forging strategic cooperative partnership in 2011.

° Minister Trujillo, sharing Minister Kang’s view, voiced hope for stronger substantive cooperation between the two countries not only on bilateral matters, such as high-level exchanges and economic cooperation, but also on regional and global issues and in other wide-ranging areas.

3. The two Ministers consulted with each other with regard to the Colombian government’s support for efforts to start as soon as possible negotiations for the ROK’s assistant membership in the Pacific Alliance. They agreed to bolster substantive cooperation in such fields as trade and investment, including pursuant to the bilateral FTA in force since July 2016, infrastructure, and the e-procurement system; and to increase bilateral cooperation on the Colombian government’s work to cultivate knowledge- and information-based cultural contents industry.

° Minister Kang asked for the Colombian government’s attention to and support for bids of Korean enterprises to join various infrastructure-building projects being conducted by the Colombian government.

° Minister Trujillo, underscoring the need for Korean enterprises to continue investing in Colombia, expressed hope for stronger bilateral cooperation on Colombia’s bid to expand its agricultural exports.

※ The Pacific Alliance is a regional economic alliance among Colombia, Mexico, Chile, and Peru that account for 38% of the gross domestic product and 50% of the trade volume of Latin America.

4. The two Ministers agreed to work more closely together on bids of their nationals to expand presence at the UN and other international organizations and in addressing main international issues. After exchanging views on the current situations on the Korean Peninsula and in Latin America, the two top diplomats agreed to beef up cooperation in that respect.

° In particular, Minister Kang shared with her Colombian counterpart the ROK government’s efforts to achieve a complete denuclearization and establish a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula, asking for the Colombian government’s ceaseless support in that regard. Minister Trujillo pledged that the government of Colombia, the ROK’s only Latin American ally that fought alongside it in the Korean War, would render firm and continued support.

5. Foreign Minister Trujillo’s official visit to the ROK, the first of its kind since the inauguration of the new Colombian government in August, is seen to have served as an opportunity to discuss how the two countries could enhance substantive cooperation in a future-oriented way.

 
* unofficial translation