1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together with the United States Department of State and the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP), hosted the 3^rd Republic of Korea (ROK)-United States (U.S.) Joint Public-Private Economic Forum at Hotel Shilla, Seoul, on Thursday, November 7. At the Forum, the participants reviewed the progress in economic cooperation between the two countries and gathered views from officials at every level at the open Forum on the development of ways for substantive cooperation through the nexus between the ROK’s New Southern Policy and the U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy, and on advancing women’s economic empowerment.

○ The Forum was successfully held, bringing together more than 200 participants, including government officials from the Department of State, experts from academia, businesspeople, journalists and members of the diplomatic corps in the ROK.

2. At the opening ceremony, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Lee Tae-ho and Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Keith Krach delivered their keynote speeches, respectively.

○ At the 4^th ROK-U.S. Senior Economic Dialogue held in Seoul on November 6, Vice Minister Lee adopted a joint statement and an action plan on women’s economic empowerment for the first time. He introduced the 2019 ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit and the 1^st Mekong-ROK Summit to be held in late November as part of the major achievements of the ROK’s New Southern Policy, and expressed hope to listen to various suggestions on ways to enhance substantive cooperation at the Joint Public-Private Economic Forum.

○ Under Secretary Krach emphasized that economic partnership between the ROK and the U.S. is a core pillar of the bilateral alliance, and hoped that the two countries would continue to work together to step up global economic security on the basis of shared values.

3. The gist of the remarks delivered at each session is as follows.

(Session 1: Review of ROK-U.S. Economic Relations)

○ (Summary of the remarks) Despite the uncertain global economic environment, the ROK-U.S. economic relations have been a core pillar in the ROK-U.S. relations as demonstrated by the expanded volumes of trade and investment. The two sides noted that a variety of channels designed to promote the bilateral economic cooperation, such as the ROK-U.S. Senior Economic Dialogue, are efficiently taking place.

○ (Summary of the discussion) Cooperation should expand to new areas, including digital economy, environment and businesswomen’s empowerment based on cooperation in traditional areas of trade and investment. In addition, sectoral cooperation channels, in addition to inter-governmental consultative mechanisms like the Joint Public-Private Economic Forum, need to be set up to embrace various stakeholders.

(Session 2: ROK-U.S. Partnership in the ASEAN Region)

○ (Summary of the remarks) It is necessary to seek concrete cooperation between the ROK’s New Southern Policy and the U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy in the areas of energy, infrastructure and smart cities.

○ (Summary of the discussion) The two sides shared the understanding that concrete cooperation between the two countries’ regional policies on energy, environment and digital matters could produce synergistic effects, and that, in order to develop and implement concrete cooperation projects, various attempts should be made, including sharing the progress in their respective ongoing projects, and conducting feasibility studies and pilot projects.

(Session 3: Women’s Economic Empowerment)

○ (Summary of the remarks) The two sides welcomed the action plan on women’s economic empowerment adopted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, and the Department of State at the 4^th ROK-U.S. Senior Economic Dialogue. Furthermore, the two sides will implement concrete projects, including cultivating capacity, recommending policies and supporting commercial cooperation among businesswomen.

○ (Summary of the discussion) The ROK and the U.S. should continue efforts to enhance awareness of companies on this issue for them to handle it as a priority on the basis of inter-governmental dialogue. The two countries need to continue consultations for optimal practices to be shared and guidelines to be adopted at multilateral consultative mechanisms where women-related issues are discussed.

4. Building on the outcome of the 4^th Senior Economic Dialogue held on Wednesday, November 6, and using the suggestions made by the private sector at this Forum as a guide, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to broaden the horizon of economic diplomacy in a mutually beneficial way for the ROK and the U.S.