1. On the afternoon of September 25 (local time in New York), Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Kyung-wha of the Republic of Korea (ROK) held a bilateral meeting with Foreign Minister Ibrahim bin Abdulaziz Al-Assaf of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the occasion of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly. During the meeting, the two Ministers discussed issues including high-level exchanges; bilateral relations including ways to step up substantive cooperation between the two countries; and the recent situation in the Middle East including attacks on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia.

2. The two Ministers expressed satisfaction over the fact that since His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud’s visit to the ROK in June this year, the bilateral friendly and cooperative relations have not only been promoted in the areas of energy, construction and infrastructure, but also have remarkably advanced in a wide range of fields such as information and communication technology (ICT), health and medical care, education, national defense and the defense industry.

○ In addition, the two Ministers commended that the bilateral high-level exchanges and consultations are underway such as the current bilateral Foreign Ministers’ Meeting following Crown Prince Mohammed’s visit to the ROK in June 2019 as well as a telephone conversation between President Moon Jae-in and Crown Prince Mohammed on Wednesday, September 18.
 
3. Minister Kang, labeling the attacks on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia that occurred on September 14 as a threat to the international energy supply as well as to the global economy, reaffirmed the ROK government’s strong condemnation of the attacks. Minister Kang added that the ROK government will actively join the efforts made by the international community as well as by Saudi Arabia for restoring peace and stability in the Middle East, and work closely together in the process of restoring the damages to Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities.

○ Minister Al-Assaf conveyed his appreciation to the announcement made by the ROK government regarding the attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities that occurred on September 14 as a threat to the global energy supply as well as to the global economy, and stressed that the international community should make joint efforts to sternly respond to avoid a recurrence of such assault.

4. During the meeting, Minister Kang emphasized that in realizing “Saudi Vision 2030” which is underway with the aim to reduce the country’s dependency on oil and diversify its economic resources, the ROK with relevant technical expertise and experiences is an optimal partner. She also expressed the ROK’s strong commitment to cooperate with Saudi Arabia in areas such as the nuclear power industry including building commercial nuclear power plants, national defense and the defense industry.

○ Minister Al-Assaf said that the ROK is emerging as its important cooperative partner in the fields of trade and investment, and added that Saudi Arabia places higher expectation on the ROK, one of its strategic cooperative partners, in realizing “Saudi Vision 2030.”

5. The two Ministers commended that the follow-up measures to Crown Prince Mohammed’s visit to the ROK are being rapidly carried out in all areas, and agreed to continue bilateral consultations in a bid to achieve the successful “Saudi Vision 2030” and to draw substantive outcomes in various areas such as the national defense and the defense industry in the wake of many occasions, including the ROK-Saudi Arabia Joint Committee.