1. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha attended a luncheon meeting hosted by the Latin American diplomatic corps in the Republic of Korea (GRULAC) (head: Ambassador of the Argentine Republic to the ROK Jorge José Alberto Roballo) at the Grand Hyatt Hotel on November 26, and exchanged views on the ROK-Latin America relations, the situation on the Korean Peninsula, and other issues of mutual interest with ambassadors from 18 Latin American countries.

※ The Group of Latin American and Caribbean Countries (GRULAC) is a group of ambassadors of Latin American and Caribbean countries which have diplomatic missions in the ROK.

2. Minister Kang took note that the ROK had maintained mutual trust and friendly cooperation with Latin America for the past 60-odd years, and had expanded cooperation to cover not only political and economic affairs, but also development and global issues. Minister Kang also stressed that as part of efforts to diversify diplomacy, the ROK government was placing great importance on diplomacy towards Latin America.

o Minister Kang noted the significant increase in people-to-people exchanges, including mutual visits by the people of the two regions, and offered to continue to work together to enhance friendly and cooperative relations, and to increase economic cooperation and mutual understanding between the ROK and Latin America.

o The ambassadors especially spoke highly of the ROK’s leading contributions in developing the Forum for East Asia–Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC), which plays a bridging role in promoting cooperation between Latin America and Asia.

3. The GRULAC ambassadors in the ROK said that the ROK was an important cooperation partner in developing the Latin American region, and hoped to expand not only bilateral relations, but also cooperation on regional and global issues.

o They especially expressed support for the ratification of the ROK-Central America FTA, the conclusion of the ROK-MERCOSUR (Southern Common Market) TA, and the ROK’s accession to the Pacific Alliance (PA) as its associate member. They also voiced hope that the two sides would continue to step up close cooperation in a range of areas, including supporting infrastructure construction, building the capacity of SMEs, easing trade imbalances, supporting efforts to recover from natural disasters, increasing cooperation with the Central American Integration System (SICA), and cultural cooperation

o The ambassadors shared the view that the ROK President’s visit to Latin America (visit to Argentina to attend the G-20 summit) and the ROK Foreign Minister’s visit to the region (visits to Panama and Mexico to attend the inauguration ceremony of the new President of the United Mexican States), scheduled for this week, would serve as a good opportunity to further advance cooperative relations between the ROK and Latin America.

4. Minister Kang talked about the ROK government’s efforts to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula, including inter-Korean and US-North Korea summits, and asked for the Latin America countries’ continued support.

o The GRULAC ambassadors commended the ROK government for its leading role to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula, and expressed support for that. They also agreed to continue to closely work together with the ROK on the global stage.

5. The meeting served as an opportunity to reaffirm cooperation between the ROK and Latin America to advance cooperative relations between the two sides, and to completely denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, and establish a lasting peace on the Peninsula. It also contributed to strengthening close communications and cooperation between the ROK Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the diplomatic missions of the GRULAC member states in the ROK.

* unofficial translation