1. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha met with UN Secretary-General António Guterres on March 28 (local time) on the occasion of the UN Peacekeeping Ministerial, and exchanged views on the situation on the Korean Peninsula and global issues.

o Minister Kang wished the Peacekeeping Ministerial a success, and said that the government of the Republic of Korea would continue its contribution in various areas, including hosting the next Peacekeeping Ministerial, in support of the UN’s peacekeeping activities in the changing global security environment.

2. In addition, Minister Kang explained the latest situation on the Korean Peninsula, and said that the ROK government would continue to make efforts to maintain the current momentum for dialogue and to establish a permanent and solid peace regime on the Korean Peninsula. Minister Kang requested the UN’s continued support for such efforts.

o Secretary-General Guterres pledged the UN’s continued cooperation in ensuring that the ROK government’s efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula and to establish peace produce successful results, saying that though the second US-North Korea summit in Hanoi ended without an agreement, the US and North Korea were expressing their willingness to hold dialogue.

3. The meeting between the Foreign Minister and the Secretary-General served as an opportunity to reaffirm the close cooperation between the ROK government and the UN, and to further strengthen the ROK’s collaboration with the UN in responding to global issues, including peacekeeping operations, as well as in establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula.

* unofficial translation