1. The 14th Korea-Middle East Cooperation Forum will take place in Seoul on November 28. The forum will be sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and co-hosted by the Jeju Peace Institute, the Korea-Arab Society, and the American University in Cairo, Egypt.

2. At the forum, to be held under the theme “towards a new vision for Korea-Middle East cooperation,” participants will discuss rapidly-changing regional situations and diplomatic and security environments, and explore ways to step up cooperation between the two regions.

o The forum will consist of three sessions – Session 1 on foreign and security affairs (Ending Conflict, Building Peace), Session 2 on economic cooperation (Expanding Economic Cooperation between Korea and the Middle East), and Session 3 on society (Human Development: Challenges and Strategies).

o The forum will bring together incumbent and former officials, and academics of the ROK and the Middle East, including Chairman of the Amman Stock Exchange of Jordan Jawad Anani (Senator), former Minister of Higher Education of Libya Hana Al Gallal, and Korea University Professor Kim Sung-han.

3. At the forthcoming forum, which marks the first since the inauguration of the new government in the ROK, Vice Minister Cho Hyun will deliver keynote remarks at the opening ceremony, in which he will stress the importance of peace on the Korean Peninsula and in the Middle East, and in this context, he will talk about the significance of the PyeongChang Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, which pursue the peace of humanity.


* unofficial translation