1. On May 25, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha met separately with Foreign Minister of Brazil Nunes Ferreira, Foreign Minister of Paraguay Eladio Loizaga, and Foreign Minister of Uruguay Nin Novoa, and exchanged views on bilateral relations; negotiations on a trade agreement between the Republic of Korea and MERCOSUR, and ways to increase economic cooperation; and the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

※ The Foreign Ministers of the three countries visited the ROK to attend the signing ceremony of a joint declaration on the start of negotiations on an ROK-MERCOSUR trade agreement (TA) (Argentina sent its vice minister for economic affairs to the ROK).

※ The ROK-MERCOSUR TA is in effect an FTA (Free Trade Agreement). It was named a Trade Agreement at the request of MERCOSUR.

<Overview of MERCOSUR (created in 1991)>

□ four member states: Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay (population of 270 million/ GDP of $3.3 trillion, accounting for 58 percent of Latin America’s GDP)

o Venezuela joined MERCOSUR in 2012, but its membership has been suspended since 2016 for failing to meet human rights standards.

□ It is a customs union which liberalizes intra-regional trade in goods, and imposes a common external tariff.

o In the tariff sector, MERCOSUR can only conclude joint trade agreements.

2. Foreign Minister Kang and her counterparts from the three member states of MERCOSUR welcomed the official start of negotiations on an ROK-MERCOSUR trade agreement today (May 25), and shared the view that the trade agreement will increase trade and investment, as well as economic cooperation, between the two sides with complementary industrial structures. Minister Kang asked each country to play an active role to make sure that the negotiations on an ROK-MERCOSUR trade agreement proceed smoothly.

3. Minister Kang explained the latest situation on the Korean Peninsula, including developments regarding the inter-Korean summit and the US-North Korea summit, and said that the ROK government will continue to work to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula and establish a lasting peace regime on the Peninsula, asking for interest and support.

o The Ministers of the three MERCOSUR member states said that the whole world, including their countries, is closely watching the situation on the Korean Peninsula, and that they support the ROK government’s efforts towards peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

4. In the meeting with her Brazilian counterpart, Minister Kang welcomed the Brazilian Foreign Minister’s visit to the ROK, which came 27 years after the last of its kind, and took note that Brazil, as the ROK’ key ally which established diplomatic ties with the ROK for the first time in Latin America (1959), has steadily increased cooperation in the manufacturing and infrastructure sectors. The two sides agreed to further strengthen the relations between the two countries in a range of areas, with next year marking the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. Minister Kang also expressed appreciation for Brazil’s cooperation in search operations for the Stellar Daisy.

5. In the meeting with her Paraguayan counterpart, Minister Kang took note of the cooperation between the two countries underway in various areas, including agriculture, e-government, and healthcare. The two sides agreed to continue to strengthen substantive cooperation, expecting the friendly relations between the two countries to advance further under the new Paraguayan government, to be launched in August this year.

6. In the meeting with her Uruguayan counterpart, Minister Kang expressed appreciation for the Uruguayan government’s cooperation in search operations for the Stellar Daisy, and asked for cooperation for the search operations to continue, expressing regret that no progress has been made on the search. The two sides also agreed to step up cooperation on issues of mutual interest, including education and technological cooperation, by continuing high-level exchanges.

* unofficial translation