1. The 2014 High-Level Forum on Korea-Latin America Partnership, hosted by the Foreign Ministry, took place at Lotte Hotel in Seoul on July 2, 2014. It brought together some 500 people, including high-ranking officials from governments of Latin American countries, officials of the ROK government, businessmen and academics. The Forum under the theme “Sharing Vision, Deepening Partnership” consisted of three sessions on the ways forward for the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and ways for the ROK and CELAC to work together; challenges facing Latin America and ways to strengthen the ROK-Latin America cooperation; and ways to promote economic cooperation between the ROK and Latin America through international development finance institutions.

2. Among participants from the Latin American side were Costa Rican Foreign Minister Manuel González Sanz and Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño, who represented CELAC’s Cuarteto - Costa Rica, Ecuador, Cuba and Antigua and Barbuda. The participants also included experts from key political and economic think tanks of Latin America, such as the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations (COMEXI), the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), and Brazil's Institute for Applied Economic Research (IPEA), as well as high-ranking officials from development banks of Latin America, including Colombia’s Financial Corporation for the Territorial Development (FINDETER) and Peru’s national development bank (COFIDE).

o Participants from the ROK side included officials of the Foreign Ministry, academics from Seoul National University, Sun Moon University and Soongsil University, and people from relevant agencies and companies, such as the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP), the Korea Development Bank, the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (K-Sure), the Export-Import Bank of Korea, and BNP Paribas. They participated in the Forum as speakers and panelists.

3. In his opening speech at the Forum, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se assessed that diplomatic relations between the ROK and Latin America have dramatically expanded over the past 50-odd years. Noting that countries around the world are strengthening cooperation both bilaterally and multilaterally in various areas, the Foreign Minister hoped that the ROK-Latin America relations will further grow through the ROK government’s active cooperation in Latin American integration efforts by CELAC, launched in 2011.

o At the opening ceremony, Minister Yun stated that CELAC, as the first regional consultative body consisting of all 33 Latin American and Caribbean countries, is writing new pages of Latin American history. He also said that cooperation between the ROK and Latin America extends beyond trade and investment to cover almost all areas, including energy, resources, infrastructure, development cooperation, information and communications technology (ICT), environment, health and medical care, electronic government, agriculture and public security. He added that the ROK and Latin America are increasingly becoming partners for the future who also expand cooperation to global issues, including climate change, environment, development, poverty eradication, cyberspace security, disarmament and non-proliferation.

4. First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yong, who presided over a session on the ROK-CELAC cooperation, analyzed that moves towards regional integration are becoming more than just a strategic slogan and continuing in earnest on each continent as one of major global trends. He assessed that CELAC is the epitome of such moves in Latin America. Furthermore, he stated that the ROK, as a responsible middle-power country in the international community and a member of the UN Security Council, is building multi-layered and various networks for peace with the international community. In this regard, he stressed that Latin America is emerging as the ROK’s important cooperation partner in the new era.

5. The High-Level Forum on Korea-Latin America Partnership has been held every year since 2008 and marked its seventh this year. The Forum, attended by senior figures from a range of sectors of many countries, has established itself as an important forum for dialogue on cooperation between governments of the ROK and Latin American countries. At this year’s Forum, the ROK and Latin America expanded their scope of cooperation through participation by senior figures from research institutes and development banks, as well as key officials of Latin American countries. In particular, the latest Forum helped establish a multi-layered cooperation mechanism between the ROK and Latin America by discussing the way forward in the ROK-CELAC cooperation. It also served as an important opportunity to pursue substantive cooperation by sharing policy experiences and discussing ways to provide joint financial support in areas of mutual interest. 


                  Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

*unofficial translation