1. First Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam, together with State Secretary Markus Ederer of Germany’s Federal Foreign Office, held the second Republic of Korea-Germany policy consultation in Berlin, Germany, on April 27. In their meeting, the two ranking diplomats exchanged views on ways to step up high-level exchanges and substantive cooperation between their two countries; situations in diverse regions, including the Korean Peninsula, the EU and the Middle East; and ways to work together on multilateral issues and stages, such as climate change and UNESCO.

2. In the policy consultation, the two sides shared the view that high-level exchanges, including President Park Geun-hye’s state visit to Germany in March 2014 and President Joachim Gauk’s state visit to the ROK in October 2015, have led the bilateral relations to the best point ever, and agreed to maintain the momentum.

3. With regard to the situation on the Korean Peninsula, Vice Minister Lim highlighted the need to induce North Korea to change its strategic calculus through a thorough implementation of the UN Security Council sanctions resolution and through strong pressure on the country over the country’s recent nuclear and missile provocations. In that regard, he asked for active cooperation of Germany, one of the EU’s main member states.

° State Secretary Ederer responded that Germany strongly condemns North Korea’s nuclear test and missile launches and will take an active part in international community’s efforts to pressure North Korea, including through a sincere implementation of the UN Security Council sanctions.

° The two sides agreed to continue bilateral cooperation for the ultimate peaceful unification of the Korean Peninsula. To that end, they agreed to maintain in high gear the Korean-German Advisory Group on the Foreign Policy towards Reunification and other relevant cooperative mechanisms.

4. The two sides also exchanged views on the situations in Northeast Asia, Europe and the Middle East. They agreed to work more closely together on international issues and stages, including climate change, UNESCO and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

5. The second ROK-Germany policy consultation is seen to have served as an opportunity to seek ways to vitalize high-level exchanges; to reinforce coordination with Germany, a main member state of the EU, regarding the situation on the Korean Peninsula; and to solidify cooperation on major issues of the international community, including the situation in Syria, climate change and the refugee crisis.


* unofficial translation