1. Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam will visit Argentina and Brazil, major countries in South America, from November 28 till December 1 for the seventh Republic of Korea-Argentina high-level policy consultation and a meeting with his Brazilian counterpart.

2. On November 28, Vice Minister Lim, together with Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Raimondi of Argentina, will hold the seventh ROK-Argentina high-level policy consultation, during which the two senior diplomats will discuss ways to work together with regard to the G20 summit 2018 and in promoting the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games; ways to step up substantive bilateral cooperation; and the North Korean nuclear issue and situations in diverse parts of the world.

- Later in the day, Vice Minister Lim will meet with Natalia Zang, head of the planning committee for the 2018 G20 Buenos Aires Summit and discuss with her specific ways to work together toward the success of the G20 summit in 2018, its tenth anniversary.

3. On December 1, Vice Minister Lim will meet with Secretary General of Foreign Affairs Abbott Galvao of Brazil, during which the two ranking diplomats will review the progress in the ROK-Brazil relations; and will discuss ways to coordinate on the North Korean nuclear issue and to work together in promoting the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games as well as on search operations for crew members of the Stellar Daisy ship.

- On November 29, the Vice Minister will meet with representatives of local Korean companies and community to learn about the challenges facing those companies in operating in Sao Paulo, the largest business city in Latin America, and offer words of encouragement to local Korean residents.

※ Brazil, the first Latin American country the ROK established diplomatic relations with (October 1959), is a major country in the region with vast territory, a 200-million population and according to the International Monetary Fund, the world’s eighth-largest GDP. The ROK and Brazil have been steadily stepping up substantive cooperation across the board.

4. Vice Minister Lim’s visits to Argentina and Brazil, part of the efforts to implement the “diplomatic diversification” strategy, one of the new ROK government’s main foreign policies, are expected to serve as an opportunity to promote substantive cooperation with the major countries in South America; promote the PyeongChang Winter Olympics; and step up coordination with Latin American countries to resolve nuclear and other issues of North Korea.


* unofficial translation