1. Deputy Minister for Multilateral and Global Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Kang Jeong-sik visited the Commonwealth of Australia on July 9-10 in his capacity as head delegate of the Republic of Korea (ROK) to the MIKTA Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) after his visit to the United Mexican States. In Australia, Deputy Minister Kang met with Deputy Secretary for the Global Cooperation, Development and Partnerships Group in the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Clare Walsh, and Deputy Secretary for the Indo-Pacific Group Richard Maude for discussions on specific ways for future cooperation, including carrying out MIKTA’s development cooperation projects.

2. Deputy Minister Kang and Deputy Secretary Walsh agreed to continue cooperation by utilizing the shared regional and policy elements of the ROK’s New Southern Policy and Australia’s strategy for the Indo-Pacific region. They also agreed to encourage Korean enterprises to join infrastructure-building projects that the Australian government is pursuing for Pacific island countries as part of its development cooperation projects.

° In particular, the two sides agreed to continue efforts in building infrastructure, supporting information economy, and financing sustainable development, which can drive economic growths of recipient countries.

3. The two sides agreed to actively explore the possibility of pursuing MIKTA cooperation in the area of development on the basis of the ROK-Australia bilateral cooperation in the field; and, in particular, to continue in-depth discussions at the first meeting of MIKTA International Development Cooperation Agencies, scheduled for the second half of the year 2019.

° In particular, the two sides agreed on the need to explore more diverse forms of MIKTA development including South-South cooperation and trilateral cooperation.

4. During the subsequent meeting with Deputy Secretary Maude, the two sides shared the understanding that MIKTA needs to seek a constructive role amid serious challenges being posed to multilateralism and the rules-based international order; and agreed to continue multi-dimensional discussions on ways to show MIKTA’s potential.

° In particular, the two sides discussed the possibility of holding a MIKTA summit during the ROK’s chairmanship of MIKTA in 2020 as a way for enhancing the visibility of MIKTA activities in the international community and for gaining its driving force. The Australian side expressed its willingness to actively support the ROK’s work as the Chair of MIKTA in 2020.

5. In order for the ROK to successfully chair MIKTA in 2020, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, building on the outcome of Deputy Minister Kang’s visit to Mexico and Australia in July, will start in earnest related discussions with other relevant Korean government authorities, and will double its efforts to broaden the scope of the country’s diplomacy.

* unofficial translation