1. Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Kim Hyoung-zhin held the third Republic of Korea-Canada strategic dialogue with Assistant Deputy Minister Graham Shantz of the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development in Seoul on September 13. In their meeting, the two ranking diplomats discussed the situations on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia; ways to step up substantive cooperation; and ways to work together on regional and global stages.

2. Deputy Minister Kim and Assistant Deputy Minister Shantz shared the view that their two countries have seen not only remarkably advances but also a new chapter opened in their relations, including through the upgrade of their relationship to strategic partnership in 2014 and the entry into force of the bilateral FTA in 2015. The two sides agreed to continue close cooperation to move their ties forward in mutually beneficial manner.

3. The two sides, calling North Korea’s repeated provocations, including the recent, fifth nuclear test, a grave threat to the Korean Peninsula, neighboring countries and the international community, agreed to continue close coordination on North Korean issues, as reaffirmed in the telephone conversation between the Foreign Ministers of the ROK and Canada earlier in the day.

4. The two sides exchanged views on ways for the ROK and Canada to work together on such global issues as climate change, development cooperation, cyber security, global health security, humanitarian assistance and disaster response; and agreed to step up policy coordination at the UN and on other regional and global stages.

5. The third ROK-Canada strategic dialogue is seen to have served as an opportunity to step up substantive cooperation in such sectors as economy, trade, science and technology, as well as strategic coordination on major regional and global issues, playing a role in efforts to boost the ROK-Canada strategic partnership.


* unofficial translation