1. Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Lee Taeho met with UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay in Paris on December 19, during which the two sides discussed cooperative relations between the Republic of Korea (ROK) and UNESCO.

2. Vice Minister Lee, calling UNESCO the ROK’s important cooperative partner, took note of the many advances in the ROK-UNESCO relations since the country’s accession to the body in 1950. He voiced hope that, with the ROK marking the 70^th anniversary of its accession to UNESCO in 2020, the ROK and UNESCO would further step up mutual cooperation.

° Director-General Azoulay expressed the will to contribute to the establishment of permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula in line with UNESCO’s spirit of promoting peace through education, science and culture, as well as to support and cooperate on the initiative for the ROK and North Korea’s joint inscription of the Demilitarized Zone as a UNESCO World Heritage site, which had been suggested by the ROK President in September.

3. Vice Minister Lee highlighted the significance of UNESCO as the United Nations’ specialized agency that fulfills such universal values as human rights, and asked for the UNESCO Secretariat’s particular attention and encouragement to ensure that the decisions and promises regarding the UNESCO heritage inscription system, including the World Heritage and the Memory of the World, are faithfully implemented.

° Director-General Azoulay shared the view that all the decisions related to the UNESCO heritage system should be sincerely carried out.

4. At the meeting held ahead of the 70^th anniversary of the ROK’s accession to UNESCO in 2020, the two sides are seen to have reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening cooperative relations.