1. On the sidelines of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly, Minister Yun Byung-se attended the seventh MIKTA foreign ministerial meeting in New York on September 22.

2. In their meeting, the foreign ministers of the five MIKTA countries issued the most-strongly worded joint statement on the North Korea nuclear issue, in which they expressed grave concern over North Korea’s fifth nuclear test and brought renewed attention to Security Council Resolution 2270 condemning the North’s fourth nuclear test.

° At their senior officials’ meeting (SOM) in January, the MIKTA countries had agreed to cover at the meeting on the sidelines of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly only one of the topics of the General Assembly session. However, given the gravity of the issue, they agreed to issue a joint foreign-ministerial statement on North Korea’s fifth nuclear test.

3. With regard to responses to humanitarian crises, Minister Yun stressed that MIKTA, a consultative mechanism among middle power countries whose aim is to play a bridging role, should take the lead in efforts to address issues concerning women and the challenged, issued that have remained largely uncovered in discussions on humanitarian assistance.

4. The member states of MIKTA discussed specific ways that the mechanism can contribute more actively to discussions on ways to resolve humanitarian crises, agreeing to discuss the issue in more detail at their eighth foreign ministerial meeting in November.

5. At the meeting, MIKTA, which will mark its third anniversary on September 25, discussed topics covered by the UN General Assembly as well as ways that it can contribute constructively to the public good of the global community, thereby reaffirming its value.

6. MIKTA, -- Mexico, Indonesia, Korea, Turkey, Australia -- a cooperative mechanism among middle power countries that are committed to and capable of serving public interests of the international community, was launched during the 68th session of the UN General Assembly in 2013. The Republic of Korea served as its second chair from September 2014 through August 2015.


* unofficial translation