1. The Foreign Ministry will hold the second round of its 2017 invitation program for public security officials of foreign countries from November 6 till 10. The purpose of the program is to pave the way for robust cooperation with governments of foreign countries in the event of incidents and accidents involving Koreans as well as disasters in those countries. For the forthcoming round, a combined eight public security and disaster-related officials of Laos, India, the Philippines, Chile, Uruguay, Fiji, Hong Kong and Pakistan have been invited.

° The guest list for the upcoming round mainly includes public security and disaster-related officials of countries that have been highly cooperative in the protection of Koreans in those countries; that the Republic of Korea needs to work with in that regard; and where many Koreans have been subjected to incidents or accidents.

※ The first round of the 2017 invitation program took place from July 3 till 7, bringing together eight such officials from Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, Australia, the US, the Philippines and Myanmar.

2. In the ROK, the foreign officials will visit the ROK’s government agencies and security facilities, and take part in various other programs. By doing so, they are expected to learn more about the ROK government’s system for the protection of the overseas Koreans, as well as politics, economy and culture of the country; and to build networks with Korean government officials.

° Included in the foreign guests’ schedule in the ROK will be learning about the ROK government’s system for the protection of the overseas Koreans; visits to the Foreign Ministry’s Consular Call Center and the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency; visits to such security-related facilities as the War Memorial of Korea, and industrial and cultural sites; and meetings with Korean government officials.

3. The upcoming invitation program for public security officials of foreign countries, the seventh of its kind since the first held in 2015, is expected to help the foreign participants develop a more positive view on the ROK and help reinforce foundations of cooperation between the ROK’s overseas missions and public security and disaster-related agencies of their host countries, thereby contributing to the ROK government’s efforts to build the capacity to better protect the overseas Koreans.


* unofficial translation