1. On February 8, the government of the Republic of Korea held the first safety meeting in 2019 with delegates from missionary groups. Deputy Minister for Overseas Koreans and Consular Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lee Sang-jin presided over the meeting on ways to better ensure the safety of the Korean missionaries during their activities abroad.

2. Deputy Minister Lee, calling the better protection of the lives and ensuring the safety of the ROK nationals overseas one of the most important policy tasks of the current government, stressed that multidimensional efforts should be made on the basis of close cooperation between the government and missionary groups to better ensure the safety of the Korean missionaries working abroad.

3. Deputy Minister Lee emphasized that it was important to raise safety awareness of the ROK nationals themselves in order for them to be prevented from being involved in incidents and accidents abroad. He added that the government would do everything it could to better protect the overseas Koreans, asking the missionary groups to not visit the countries on the travel ban list; to abide by the laws and respect the customs and cultures of their host countries while carrying out missionary activities; and to refrain from conducting large-scale missionary events, street performances and others missionary activities that could provoke residents or violent extremist groups in dangerous countries or regions.

* unofficial translation