1. During her visit to Bangkok, the Kingdom of Thailand, for ASEAN-related Foreign Ministers’ Meetings, Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Kyung-wha held a bilateral meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs Don Pramudwinai of Thailand on the morning of August 3. In the meeting, the two Ministers discussed the ROK-Thailand relations, cooperation between the ROK and ASEAN countries as well as the ROK and Mekong countries, and the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

2. Minister Kang noted that Thailand is the ROK’s traditional ally that had sent its troops to the Korean War and that the ROK-Thailand bilateral relations have advanced in such areas as political, economic, cultural affairs as well as people-to-people exchanges since 1958.
 
○ Minister Kang, extending congratulations to Minister Don on his reappointment as Thai Foreign Minister in the newly-inaugurated Thai government, and on the successful holding of ASEAN-related Foreign Ministers’ Meetings in 2019, hoped that this year’s ASEAN-related Summits would be held successfully.

3. In addition, Minister Kang mentioned that the ROK government will closely consult with Thailand, the Chair of ASEAN, for substantive preparations for the 2019 ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit and the 1st Mekong-ROK Summit to be held in Busan this November.

○ Minister Don hoped that the upcoming Commemorative Summit will provide a significant momentum for the development of the ROK-ASEAN relations; welcomed holding the historic inaugural Mekong-ROK Summit; and suggested continuing close consultations for the success of the two forthcoming Summits.

4. Minister Kang, emphasizing that Japan’s measures to remove the ROK from its whitelist announced on August 2 and its unilateral and arbitrary export restrictive measures are unfair, and that such measures could undermine mutual prosperity in the region, asked for Thailand’s continued attention and its constructive roles on this issue.

○ Minister Don agreed on the importance of respect for free and transparent trade order as well as the importance of mutual prosperity through such system.

5. In the meeting, Minister Kang explained the ROK’s efforts to make progress in the recent situation on the Korean Peninsula such as holding a meeting of the ROK-the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)-the United States (U.S.); extended appreciation to the Thai government for having conveyed its consistent and active support for the ROK government’s efforts to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula; and asked for Thailand’s continued support in the future.

○ Minister Don replied that the Thai government will continue to support the ROK’s government’s efforts to make progress in achieving complete denuclearization and the establishment of peace process on the Korean Peninsula.