Press Briefing

Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations Noh Kyu-duk

February 21, 2019  14:30  KST

Good afternoon. Let me start today’s briefing.

First, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha will visit Geneva from February 23 till 25 for the 40^th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and a Conference on Disarmament (CD).

At the UNHRC high-level segment on the afternoon of February 25, Minister Kang will deliver a keynote speech, underscoring the need to step up international cooperation to improve the human rights situation of the entire world, especially that of vulnerable people; and discussing human rights-related matters of concern, including such new challenges as new technology and human rights, “comfort women” and other issues regarding sexual violence in conflict, the efforts to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula, and the human rights issue in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

At the CD on the morning of February 25, Minister Kang will share with the other participants the efforts made so far to achieve a complete denuclearization and establish a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula; voice hope for further progress in that regard; and bring attention to the importance of the international disarmament and non-proliferation regime amid the ongoing changes in the international security situation, as well as the ROK government’s commitment to contributing to relevant efforts.

On the occasion of the multilateral meetings, the Minister will hold bilateral meetings with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and foreign ministers of major countries.

Moving on to the second and last topic, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will hold various events to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the March First Independence Movement and the establishment of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea.

Among the commemorative events will be “centennial celebrations and receptions to be hosted by overseas diplomatic missions.” Forty-nine overseas missions will conduct 64 projects to celebrate the centennial in the form of “a festival.”

Also included in the centennial celebrations will be a “Republic of Korea-People’s Republic of China friendship caravan” event. A 100-member caravan will tour the Provisional Government’s locations in China by train in July 2019, visiting historic sites, holding communicative exchanges and thereby diffusing a message of “future-oriented peace and cooperation in Northeast East.”

Lastly, the project to set up “a Utoro peace memorial museum” has been designed to preserve the history of the ROK and Japan working together to save from the verge of a forced demolition a residential area in Utoro, Japan; and to hand down the friendship between the two countries as well as the values of peace and human rights.

By conducting these projects, the Foreign Ministry intends to share with people of neighboring countries and beyond history and the values of the March First Independence Movement and the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea; and thereby to win from the international community broader support for the efforts to build a future-oriented peace on the Korean Peninsula, in Northeast Asia and beyond.

Thank you.

(A question-and-answer session followed.)

* unofficial translation