1. On November 3, Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun met with Political Director Zoran Vujic of the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who was on a visit to the Republic of Korea in his capacity as special envoy of the President. In the meeting, the two senior diplomats exchanged views on the ROK-Serbia relations, ways to step up substantive cooperation, and the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

※ Later in the day, Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Lee Do-hoon held a working luncheon with the Serbian special envoy, over which the two sides discussed the situation on the Korean Peninsula and ways to coordinate on North Korean issues.

2. Special envoy Vujic, handing a letter from Serbian President Vucic, took note of the steady progress in the friendly and cooperative relations between the ROK and Serbia, which will mark in 2019 the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations, and voiced hope to work more closely across the board and boost high-level exchanges with Serbia’s important cooperative partner in Asia.

° In addition, the special envoy, bringing attention to the efforts of Serbia, a major country in the Balkan region, toward the development and stabilization of the region, asked the ROK to support those efforts.

3. Vice Minister Cho, sharing the special envoy’s view on the need to promote the bilateral relations, voiced hope that the two countries will take a notch higher their ties across the board, including not only political affairs but also trade, investment, cultural exchanges and tourism.

° In particular, as a way to increase substantive cooperation between the two countries, the Vice Minister asked the Serbian government to pay attention to bids of outstanding Korean companies to take part in the development project for transportation infrastructure, which Serbia is currently working on.

4. Special envoy Vujic, citing President Vucic’s keynote speech at the latest session of the UN General Assembly in which North Korean provocations were condemned, stressed that Serbia supports the ROK’s position regarding the North Korean nuclear issue. He added that Serbia will coordinate increasingly closely with the ROK on North Korea policies.


* unofficial translation