1. Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, together with Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Maria Teresa Goncalves Ribeiro of Portugal, formally signed a Republic of Korea-Portugal agreement on air services at the former country’s Foreign Ministry on May 25.

2. In the bilateral meeting held in May 2016 to lay the institutional groundwork for bilateral cooperation on air services, the ROK and Portugal initialed the text of the aforementioned agreement, agreeing to operate seven flights per week and no limited number of cargo flights between the two countries, and to set code-sharing arrangements.

° Despite no current operation of direct flights between the ROK and Portugal, the agreement, when in force, is expected to allow passengers to more conveniently make flight reservations and other relevant arrangements, including under code-sharing systems among airlines.

※ The agreement will be brought into force 30 days after the two countries are notified by each other of their completion of the necessary domestic procedures.

3. Going forward, the ROK government will seek more agreements on air services in a bid to broaden Korean airlines’ networks and to help Koreans enjoy flights run by any country in the world more conveniently.

※ The ROK has concluded air services agreements with Portugal and 85 other countries, with those with 81 out of these countries in force as of May 2018.

* unofficial translation