1. The 9^th Korea-EU Policy Consultation on Middle Eastern and North African Affairs took place at the Four Seasons hotel in Seoul on May 3, with Director-General for African and Middle Eastern Affairs Hong Jin-wook of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Acting Managing Director for the Middle East and North Africa Colin Scicluna of the European External Action Service (EEAS) leading their respective delegations.

2. In the Consultation, the two sides discussed key issues in the Middle East, including the Maghreb region (the State of Libya, the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, the Republic of Tunisia, the Kingdom of Morocco, etc.), Israeli-Palestinian issues, the Syrian Arab Republic, and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The two sides, as responsible members of the international community, agreed to continue communication and cooperation on Middle East policy.

o Director-General Hong voiced hope that the situations in Syria and Yemen would be resolved peacefully as soon as possible through dialogue and compromise between the parties concerned, saying that peace and stability in the Middle East are important not only for the Republic of Korea and the European Union, but also for the entire international community.

o Acting Managing Director Scicluna said that in resolving complicated issues in the Middle East, the EU was giving priority to multilateral solutions based on cooperation with like-minded countries, including the ROK. He added that in that regard, the 9^th Consultation and the 5^th Korea-EU International Conference on Middle Eastern and North African Affairs were a very useful opportunity for communication.

3. The Policy Consultation with the EU, which marked its 9^th this year, served as a good opportunity to strengthen communication and policy cooperation with the EU, a major stakeholder in issues in the Middle East, as the situations aggravating instability in the Middle East continue in Libya and Yemen.

* unofficial translation