1. The government of the Republic of Korea will send special envoys -- Representatives Woo Sang-ho, Jin Sun-mee and Yun Jae-ok -- to the inauguration ceremony of President Mario Abdo of Paraguay set to take place in Asuncion, Paraguay, on August 15.

2. The ROK and Paraguay are long-standing allies that have promoted close friendship and cooperation across the board, including political affairs and economy, since forging diplomatic relations in 1962. In particular, since 2011, the ROK, together with its main cooperative partner for official development assistance (ODA), has been robustly bolstering cooperation for co-prosperity in such sectors as healthcare, agriculture and transportation.

° With the incoming Mario Abdo government expected to keep in place the current Cartes government’s open economic policy, the ROK and Paraguay are anticipated to see substantive bilateral cooperation grow further, including in economy and trade and on the back of Korean companies’ entry into Paraguay.

° The ROK is also expected to work closely with the incoming Abdo government of Paraguay, a member state of MERCOSUR, -- the Southern Common Market, which is a customs union comprised of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay -- on the proposed ROK-MERCOSUR trade agreement (TA).

- The ROK and MERCOSUR declared the start of negotiations on the proposed bilateral TA in May 2018.

3. Special envoy Woo Sang-ho will attend the inauguration ceremony of the new President and relay the hope of President Moon Jae-in and the ROK government to further deepen and enhance friendly and cooperative ties between the ROK and Paraguay.

* unofficial translation