1. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha attended the eighth Foreign Ministers’ Meeting of the East Asia Summit (EAS) in Singapore on August 4, where she exchanged with other participants views on regional and global issues, including those concerning the Korean Peninsula.

° The event brought together the top diplomats of the Republic of Korea and the ten member states of ASEAN; Secretary of State Pompeo of the US; Foreign Ministers Wang Yi, Kono, Bishop and Peters of China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, respectively; Deputy Foreign Minister Morgulov of Russia; and Minister of State for External Affairs Singh of India.

※ The EAS is comprised of the ten member states of ASEAN, the ROK, China, Japan, the US, Russia, Australia, New Zealand and India.

※ The EAS summit was first held in 2005, and its 12th round will take place in November 2018. Meanwhile, after holding informal foreign ministerial meetings in the first six years following its launch, the EAS convened the first formal foreign ministerial meeting in 2011 and has since been doing so.

2. Minister Kang stressed that it was important for achieving the EAS members’ shared goal of peace and prosperity in East Asia that the role of the EAS be expanded as the premier strategic forum participated by all the major countries in the region. In particular, she brought attention to the need for the EAS member states to work together in such non-traditional security areas as maritime security and terrorism.

3. Minister Kang emphasized that as a result of the two rounds of inter-Korean summit talks and the US-North Korea summit meeting, the Korean Peninsula had seen a shift in its situation to a phase of dialogue and peace. On that note, she asked the EAS to remain attentive to and supportive of efforts to achieve as soon as possible the goals of a complete denuclearization and the establishment of peace on the Korean Peninsula, which were about to begin.

° In response, the participants in the EAS meeting, hailing the recent progress in the situation on the Korean Peninsula and, at the same time, commending the ROK government’s leading role in bringing positive changes, expressed support for the ROK government’s work toward the denuclearization and peace on the Korean Peninsula.

4. With respect to the South China Sea issue, ministers of ASEAN countries and China took note of the progress in the currently ongoing China-ASEAN consultations on the South China Sea Code of Conduct (COC). Meanwhile, ministers of such countries as the US and Japan urged countries concerned to exercise restraint in order to guarantee the freedom of navigation in and flight over the South China Sea and to resolve the dispute in a peaceful way.

5. Ministers from the US and many other countries explained their countries’ policies toward the Indo-Pacific region. The participating ministers drew a common understanding that these policies should be based on such principles as comprehensiveness, openness, transparency, and ASEAN centrality, and contribute to efforts to promote peace and prosperity in the region.

6. The participating ministers noted with appreciation that the statements in the making for adoption at the EAS summit in November 2018 -- those regarding ASEAN smart cities, ocean plastic waste, nuclear security and ways to respond to threats posed by returning foreign terrorist fighters -- would be appropriate responses to issues facing the international community. They agreed to hold constructive discussions with the aim to complete consultations on the texts of the statements before the summit.

° The ministers hailed the progress in the efforts to institutionalize the EAS, as can be seen from the decisions to hold the Jakarta-hosted EAS ambassadorial meeting on a regular basis and to set up a website; and underscored the need to further strengthen the EAS as a strategic forum.

* unofficial translation