1. Second Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul delivered a keynote speech at the “Asian-African Ministerial Conference in Commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of the 1955 Bandung Conference” in Jakarta, Indonesia, on April 20.

2. At the Ministerial Conference, ministerial-level officials from 109 Asian and African countries gave speeches on ways to strengthen the South-South cooperation, and adopted three outcome documents -- Bandung Message 2015, Declaration on Re-invigorating the New Asian-African Strategic Partnership (NAASP), and Declaration on Palestine.

o At the Conference, representatives from each country emphasized that the Bandung Spirit is still relevant today, and close cooperation between Asia and Africa is important to resolve issues facing the international community, including terrorism, climate change and development gap.

o Singapore and other ASEAN countries stressed the importance of trade and investment. African countries placed an emphasis on development cooperation and especially expressed active support for Palestine.

o Japan stated that it intends to contribute to regional peace through its policy of “Proactive Contribution to Peace” and the reform of the UN Security Council is necessary. China stressed that Asia and Africa need to become political, security and civilization partners.

3. In his keynote speech, Vice Minister explained in detail the ROK’s foreign policies toward Asia and Africa, and emphasized that the ROK is a perfect cooperation partner for developing countries in Asia and Africa, as the ROK knows better than any other country the constraints and bottlenecks lying in their quest for prosperity.

o Vice Minister Cho said that the Bandung Spirit has served as a catalyst for enhancing connectivity and integration in Asia and Africa amid the tide of globalization. He presented three ways for Asia and Africa to grow and prosper together: resolving the security dilemma through the enhancement of mutual trust, bridging the development gap between countries in the region by increasing connectivity, and continuing to grow by creating a new engine of growth and sharing development experiences and lessons learned through more South-South cooperation.

o Vice Minister Cho also said that for sustainable development of Asia and Africa, the ROK will continue to engage in development cooperation with a focus on capacity-building, and hoped that the ROK will become a source of hope and inspiration for developing countries in Asia and Africa by sharing its success and failure stories.

4. On the evening of April 20, Vice Minister Cho attended an official dinner hosted by Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and had a short conversation with North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Pak Myung-guk. 


* unofficial translation