1. Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, together with his counterparts from 14 Pacific Island countries, will hold the second Korea-Pacific Islands Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Seoul on November 24. He will host an official luncheon after the meeting.

◦ On the sidelines of the multilateral meeting, Minister Yun will meet bilaterally with his Fijian and Papua New Guinean counterparts Inoke Kubuabola and Rimbink Pato, respectively, on November 25.

2. The forthcoming meeting themed “Building Inclusive and Enduring Pacific Partnership for Co-Prosperity” will consist of three sessions on development cooperation, climate change and maritime and fishery cooperation. The top diplomats will review the progress made in cooperation between the two sides since their first meeting and discuss ways to work more closely together.

◦ The session on development cooperation will cover bilateral development cooperation, joint efforts related to the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation, also known as the Busan Global Partnership, the Korea-Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Cooperation Fund, and the post-2015 development goals. On the agenda of the session on climate change are the new, post-2020 climate regime, the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) and the World Water Forum 2015. The session on maritime and fishery cooperation will deal with fishery cooperation, deep-sea mineral reserves, ocean thermal energy conversion and other new and renewable energy sources and cooperation on marine scientific research.

3. During their visit to the Republic of Korea from November 23 through 26, Foreign Ministers from Pacific Island countries will attend the dinner to be hosted by the ROK’s Second Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul on the 23 and pay a group courtesy call on President Park Geun-hye on the 25. They will also have opportunities to visit industrial facilities and attend cultural events, witnessing and experiencing the ROK’s high-end technology and dynamic culture.

4. As a side event of the meeting, the ROK Foreign Ministry will hold a “talk concert on Pacific Island countries” on November 24 as an opportunity for a meeting and communication between Foreign Ministers from the countries and Korean youth. The dialogue between Foreign Ministers from Pacific Island countries and future leaders of the ROK --“dialogue between the current Pacific Island countries and the future ROK” -- is expected to serve as a small but meaningful opportunity in terms of bilateral cooperation down the road.

5. The first Korea-Pacific Islands Foreign Ministers’ Meeting to take place since the launch of the Park Geun-hye government last year is expected to serve as an opportunity to expand the ROK’s minilateral diplomatic horizon to the Pacific region. In addition, the meeting is expected to help further enhance the friendship between the ROK and the Pacific Island countries and step up their substantive cooperation, both bilateral and multilateral, in various fields. 


                      Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

* unofficial translation