1. Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Kim Hyoung-zhin will visit Moscow, Russia, for the 16th Republic of Korea-Russia vice ministerial policy consultation with Deputy Foreign Minister in charge of Asia-Pacific affairs Igor Morgulov on July 8; and the tenth meeting of the ROK-Russia Far East and Siberia Subcommittee with Alexander Osipov, First Deputy Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East, on July 7.

2. In the 16th ROK-Russia vice ministerial policy consultation, the two sides will exchange views on bilateral relations, ways to step up substantive cooperation, the North Korean nuclear issue, the situations on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia, and global issues.

3. The tenth meeting of the ROK-Russia Far East and Siberia Subcommittee will cover ways to work together in the sectors of agriculture, livestock industry, fisheries, healthcare and medical service in Russia’s Far East and Siberia, as well as ways to resolve challenges of Korean companies operating in the region.

° The two sides will also discuss ways to use their bilateral platform for investment and loans in seeking out and conducting substantive cooperation projects mainly in Russia’s Far East region.

° The ROK-Russia Far East and Siberia Subcommittee, which was launched in 2002 and whose upcoming meeting will mark the tenth, is a comprehensive consultative mechanism for development cooperation in Russia’s Far East and Siberia. It is participated by officials of relevant government agencies and organizations as well as enterprises. It has been playing a pivotal role in efforts to increase substantive cooperation in the region and exchanges between provincial governments of the ROK and Russia.

° In particular, given the importance of the ROK-Russia cooperation for enhanced connectivity between the former’s Eurasia Initiative and the latter’s new oriental policy mainly in the latter’s Far East and Siberia, the delegations to the meetings are led by higher-than-before vice-minister-level officials, starting with the ninth round.

4. The upcoming ROK-Russia vice ministerial policy consultation and meeting of the Far East and Siberia Subcommittee are expected to help the two countries maintain their momentum of robust high-level exchanges; seek ways to step up substantive cooperation mainly in Russia’s Far East and Siberia; and enhance strategic cooperative partnership, including in the coordination on the North Korean nuclear issue.


* unofficial translation