1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will hold the “8th High-Level Forum on the Korea-Caribbean Partnership” under the theme “Korea-Caribbean partnership for peace and security” in Seoul on October 31.

※ The High-Level Forum on the Korea-Caribbean Partnership is a high-level dialogue mechanism that has been held every year since 2011 to increase substantive cooperation with 14 Caribbean states.

2. The upcoming Forum, which marks its eighth this year, will bring together a number of experts, including foreign and security ministerial-level officials from 8 Caribbean states and the Secretariat of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). They will discuss ways to promote peace and security in the Republic of Korea and the Caribbean region, as well as concrete ways the world can work together to establish peace.

o Participants will include the Deputy Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Foreign Minister of Barbados, and the Vice Foreign Minister of Jamaica.

※ Foreign Minister Kang will meet jointly with the foreign/vice foreign ministers of three Caribbean states at the Foreign Ministry on October 30.

o The opening ceremony of the Forum will feature opening remarks by Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, congratulatory remarks by Deputy Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Louis Straker, and a keynote speech by Moon Chung-in,  the special presidential advisor for unification, diplomacy and national security affairs.

o In Session 1 to be moderated by the Director-General for Latin American and Caribbean Affairs of the ROK Foreign Ministry under the theme “peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and in the Caribbean,” presentations will be made by the Director General for Policy Planning of the ROK Ministry of Unification, and the Minister of National Security of Beliz.

o In Session 2 to be moderated by the Minister of Home Affairs, Justice and National Security of Saint Lucia under the theme “practical cooperation for enhancing peace and security,” the Foreign Minister of Barbados, the Vice Foreign Minister of Jamaica, the Director of CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and Security, and officials from Korean National Police University will discuss concrete ways they can work together to promote peace and security.

3. The upcoming Forum is especially meaningful as it will serve as an opportunity to further solidify support from the Caribbean states, the ROK’s traditional allies, for efforts to establish a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula, as well as to discuss ways the ROK and the Caribbean region can cooperate on security issues facing the Caribbean states, including terrorism, cybercrime, and human trafficking.

* unofficial translation