1. On the sidelines of the ASEAN-related Foreign Ministers’ Meetings 2018, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha met bilaterally with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov of Russia on August 2. In the meeting, the two top diplomats exchanged views on the Republic of Korea-Russia relations, the situation on the Korean Peninsula, and ways to work together at the UN and on other international stages.

2. The two Ministers noted with appreciation that President Moon Jae-in’s state visit to Russia during the FIFA World Cup Russia in June 2018 had served as an opportunity to further enhance the ROK-Russia relations; and agreed to faithfully follow up on what the two countries’ Presidents had agreed to do in various fields, including exchanges, trilateral cooperation among the ROK, North Korea and Russia, and ROK-Russia cooperation on the development of the latter’s Far East region.

° In a bid to take the ROK-Russia relations a notch higher in 2020, the 30^th anniversary of diplomatic relations, and on, the two top diplomats agreed to declare the year 2020 “a year of ROK-Russia exchanges” and to form “a preparatory committee for celebrations for the 30^th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2020.”

° The two Ministers expressed hope that building on the result of the joint studies on the proposed construction of ROK-Russia railways and piped natural gas (PNG) pipelines as well as power generation, which the two countries had agreed to seek at the summit talks, the two countries would draw up specific ways to work together in those areas.

° The two sides also voiced hope that the envisioned ROK-Russia forum for provincial cooperation would be successfully launched in November 2018, serve as a platform for comprehensive exchanges and cooperation between provincial government agencies of the ROK and those of Russia’s Far East, and thereby help to step up ROK-Russia exchanges and economic cooperation at the provincial level.

※ The ROK-Russia forum for provincial cooperation, which the two countries agreed to set up at the bilateral summit talks in September 2017, will be the first provincial-level consultative mechanism between the two countries. Its participants will include provincial government agencies as well as small- and medium-sized enterprises of the two countries.

- Its first round will take place in Pohang, southeast of Seoul, from November 7 till 9, 2018.

3. Minister Kang shared with her Russian counterpart the ROK government’s efforts to achieve a complete denuclearization and a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula on the back of the outcome of the recent inter-Korean and US-North Korea summit talks; extended appreciation to the Russian government for supporting the ROK government’s work to improve its relations with North Korea and establish a permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula; and asked Russia to continue playing a constructive role.

° Minister Lavrov, noting that the series of meetings held as a result of the inter-Korean summit talks paved the way for the establishment of peace on the Korean Peninsula and a leap forward in inter-Korean relations, suggested that the ROK and Russia work together to ensure a faithful implementation of the measures stipulated in the Panmunjeom Declaration and in other ways toward peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia.

4. The two sides also discussed ways to work together at the UN and other international organizations, and exchanged views on key regional and global issues.

5. The second ROK-Russia foreign ministerial meeting in 2018 after the one held on the sidelines of the high-level segment of the 37^th session of the UN Human Rights Council in February served as an opportunity to discuss ways to follow up on what had been agreed upon during the ROK President’s state visit to Russia in June and to bolster strategic communication between the two countries toward the denuclearization and the establishment of peace on the Korean Peninsula.

* unofficial translation