1. On December 20, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Latin American and Caribbean Affairs Bureau) hosted the second plenary meeting of the “FEALAC Seoul Club,” attended by diplomats from embassies of the member states of FEALAC (Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation) in Seoul.

※ FEALAC, the only intergovernmental multilateral consultative mechanism between East Asia (16 countries) and Latin America (20 countries), was established in 1999 to enhance mutual understanding, friendship and cooperation.

※ The FEALAC Seoul Club was launched in July 2018 at the initiative of the Foreign Ministry’s Latin American and Caribbean Affairs Bureau to share latest developments at FEALAC, and to promote friendship between working-level diplomats at embassies of the FEALAC member states in the Republic of Korea.

※ The ROK hosted the FEALAC Cyber Secretariat in 2011 to address the forum’s structural weakness that it had no permanent secretariat, and has been contributing to the development of FEALAC, including by serving as Regional Coordinator (2015-2017); hosting the 8th Foreign Ministers’ meeting (August 2017, Busan); and playing a leading role in establishing the FEALAC Trust Fund, and serving as chair of its Steering Committee.

o The meeting brought together working-level diplomats from 19 embassies of the FEALAC member states in the ROK.

2. The event consisted of discussions on the results of FEALAC meetings and the way forward for the Forum, as well as the FEALAC Seoul Club’s first external activity.

o The participants shared the results of the 19th FEALAC Senior Officials' Meeting and the 2nd Steering Committee Meeting, held in the Lao People's Democratic Republic in November, exchanged views on major issues at FEALAC, and discussed ways to operate the FEALAC Seoul Club.

o In addition, the participants shared the view that next year, which marks the 20th anniversary of the creation of FEALAC, would be a good time to increase activities aimed at enhancing the visibility of FEALAC, and agreed to conduct public outreach activities by designating FEALAC Day or FEALAC Week.

3. The participants also had an opportunity to learn about the history and tradition of Korean kimchi, and experience the ROK’s traditional culture firsthand through a visit to a kimchi museum (Museum Kimchikan) and a kimchi-making experience.

4. The event served to contribute not only to strengthening solidarity between diplomats at embassies of the FEALAC member states in the ROK, but also to raising awareness of the ROK government’s roles and contributions in developing FEALAC, including its operation of the FEALAC Cyber Secretariat.

o In addition, the participants, along with a provincial government, donated kimchi they made themselves to a local community in the ROK in the name of FEALAC, and this is seen as having contributed to increasing their sense of responsibility as local community members.

* unofficial translation