1. Deputy Minister for Political Affairs Kim Hong-kyun will visit Iran on September 11-12 to hold high-level policy consultations with Deputy Minister for Asia Pacific Affairs Ibrahim Rahimpour of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They will discuss bilateral issues, including politics, trade, culture, and development cooperation, as well as ways to enhance economic cooperation between the ROK and Iran after sanctions against Iran are lifted.

2. Deputy Minister Kim’s upcoming visit to Iran has significance in that it makes the ROK-Iran high-level policy consultations a regular mechanism. The ROK-Iran high-level policy consultations were resumed in November 2013 and have been functioning as a consultative mechanism on bilateral issues between the two countries while sanctions against Iran have been in place. This visit is also expected to lead to more robust high-level exchanges between the two countries, building upon prior people-to-people exchanges, including the ROK-Iran Foreign Ministers’ meeting in September 2014 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, as well as the First Vice Foreign Minister’s visit to Iran in June and the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport’s visit to Iran in August this year.

3. As the E3/EU+3 (UK, France, Germany, US, China, Russia, EU) and Iran reached a nuclear agreement on July 14, Deputy Minister Kim will listen to the Iranian side’s explanation on the process of the negotiations and key results of the nuclear deal. Deputy Minister Kim will also stress that if and when sanctions against Iran are lifted following Iran’s faithful implementation of the nuclear agreement, the ROK-Iran bilateral relations will also significantly develop.

4. Deputy Minister Kim’s forthcoming visit to Iran is expected to contribute significantly to creating a favorable environment for Korean companies willing to enter the Iranian market when sanctions against Iran are lifted.


*unofficial translation