1. At their summit talks in Vladivostok, Russia, on September 6, President Moon Jae-in and President Putin of Russia agreed to have the Foreign Ministries of their two countries hold Arctic Consultations.

2. To follow up on the agreement reached at the summit talks, the Foreign Ministry will hold the first Republic of Korea-Russia Arctic Consultation in Seoul in late November 2017, with Ambassador for Arctic Affairs Kim Young-jun and Ambassador at Large and Senior Arctic Official Vladimir Barbin of Russia as head delegates to the meeting.

° After consultations between their ambassadors for Arctic affairs since early 2017 on the possibility of holding the Arctic Consultation, the ROK and Russia finally agreed in the lead-up to the summit talks to hold the meeting.

3. At their first-ever Arctic Consultation, the ROK and Russia will exchange views on various relevant matters, such as maritime transport, including via Arctic routes, and ways to step up cooperation on science, the Arctic development, energy and communications, as well as at the Arctic Council. The forthcoming meeting is expected to contribute greatly to the ROK’s efforts to take a notch higher its diplomacy toward Russia on Arctic-related matters.


* unofficial translation