1.  The 21st meeting of the directors-general for consular affairs of the Republic of Korea and Japan took place in Tokyo, Japan, on October 31. The meeting was chaired by Director-General for Overseas Koreans and Consular Affairs Woo In-shik of the ROK Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Director-General of the Consular Affairs Bureau Hideo Tarumi of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

※ The meeting of the ROK and Japanese directors-general for consular affairs has been held between the directors-general for consular affairs of the Foreign Ministries of the two countries every year alternately in the ROK and Japan.

2. In the meeting, the two sides reviewed the progress in cooperation on the full range of consular issues, including people-to-people exchanges, matters relating to immigration and sojourn, and the protection of their nationals in each other’s countries. The ROK side especially asked for the Japanese side’s interest and cooperation to establish the second Korean School in Tokyo.

o (Cooperation in people-to-people exchanges, and immigration and sojourn-related matters) With the number of people engaging in exchanges between the two countries about to reach 10 million (9.45 million in 2017), the two sides reviewed the current state of people-to-people exchanges, and discussed ways to provide greater immigration convenience.

o (Cooperation in protecting their nationals overseas) The two sides reviewed information regarding incidents and accidents attributable to growing people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, and asked each other’s governments to continue investigations and search operations for their nationals who had gone missing in each other’s countries.

o (Concerning the establishment of the second Korean School in Tokyo) The ROK side explained that considering the school age population with the ROK nationality in Japan’s Kanto area (15,000 people), the second Korean School needs to be built, in addition to the existing Tokyo Korean School (about 1,400 students).

3. Meanwhile, the two sides exchanged views on their visa policies, as well as policies to protect their nationals overseas.

4. The two sides said that the meeting was a useful opportunity to discuss ways to step up consular cooperation between the two countries, and shared the view that substantive cooperation on consular issues would help increase exchanges between the people of the two countries, and serve as a foundation for cooperation in a broad range of areas, including political, economic, social and cultural affairs.

5. They agreed to hold the next meeting in the ROK at an appropriate time.

* unofficial translation