1. During his visit to the Republic of Costa Rica on November 11, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Lee Tae-ho paid a courtesy call on the Second Vice President Marvin Rodríguez Cordero and met with Vice Minister Lorena Aguilar Revelo of Foreign Affairs and Worship of the Republic of Costa Rica. In addition, he met with Rector of the University for Peace (UPEACE) Francisco Rojas Aravena and held a meeting with Korean people and business people living in Costa Rica.

2. At the two respective meetings with the Second Vice President Rodríguez and Vice Minister Aguilar, Vice Minister Lee extensively exchanged views with the Costa Rican side on the utilization of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the Republic of Korea and the Republic of Costa Rica, the ROK’s participation in the San José metropolitan railway project and ways for cooperation in climate change on the international stage.

○ Both sides agreed that as the FTA between the ROK and Costa Rica came into effect on November 1, the trade and investment between the two countries would expand further. Furthermore, they agreed to make concerted efforts to take the bilateral relations a leap forward in all areas on the basis of the ROK-Costa Rica FTA.

○ The Costa Rican side mentioned that an increase in coffee production and export following the conclusion of the FTA between the Republic of Korea and the Republics of Central America would be helpful in promoting Costa Rica’s socio-economic development. It also voiced hope that Korean consumers would pay more attention to Costa Rican coffee.

○ In particular, Vice Minister Lee explained the ROK’s outstanding railway construction technology and asked for the Costa Rican government’s interest in the ROK’s participation in the San José metropolitan railway project.

3. At the meeting with Korean people and business people in Costa Rica, Vice Minister Lee was briefed on the progress in running the Korean community and Korean language schools in Costa Rica, and difficulties of the ROK enterprises there. Furthermore, he agreed to seek possible ways to support them.

4. Vice Minister Lee’s visit to Costa Rica is seen to have served as an opportunity to explore ways to strengthen substantive cooperation, including helping the ROK businesses build their presence in Costa Rican markets, as well as to promote cooperation between the two countries in the area of multilateral diplomacy such as climate change.