Press Briefing

Deputy Spokesperson Lee Jaewoong

December 12, 2019  14:30  KST

Good afternoon. Let me start today’s briefing.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang, Kyung-wha will chair the 3rd meeting of the Public Diplomacy Committee on December 13.

The Public Diplomacy Committee, established pursuant to the Public Diplomacy Act, is the integrating and coordinating body for public diplomacy that deliberates on and coordinates main issues in carrying out public diplomacy in an integrated and systematic way.

At the forthcoming meeting, the participants will discuss various agenda aimed at converging public diplomacy capacities of private and public sectors, including the endorsement of a “comprehensive action plan on public diplomacy for year 2020,” the selection of this year’s best practices in public diplomacy, and ways to increase civil society’s participation in public diplomacy.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang, Kyung-wha will attend the 14^th ASEM Foreign Ministers’ Meeting to take place in Madrid, the Kingdom of Spain, on December 15-16.

The Meeting will cover ways to reinvigorate multilateralism and to build sustainable connectivity between Europe and Asia, as well as major regional and global issues.

On the occasion of the Meeting, Minister Kang will have bilateral meetings with her counterparts from major participating countries.

The forthcoming ASEM Foreign Ministers’ Meeting is expected to serve as an opportunity to introduce the efforts of the government of the Republic of Korea (ROK) to contribute actively to responding to climate change, including by holding the 2^nd Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 (P4G) Summit in Seoul in 2020 and implementing the Paris Agreement, as well as an opportunity to reaffirm the support of the ASEM member states for the ROK government’s efforts toward complete denuclearization and the establishment of permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Lee Taeho will deliver congratulatory remarks at the “ROK-GRULAC (Group of Latin American and Caribbean Countries) Friendship Night” event on December 13.

In his congratulatory remarks in Spanish, Vice Minister Lee will present a direction for future cooperation between the ROK and Latin American and Caribbean Countries toward shared prosperity and ask for their attention to and support for the efforts of the ROK government toward complete denuclearization and the establishment of permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Lee Taeho will visit Geneva, the Swiss Confederation, on December 15-18 to attend the 1st Global Refugee Forum.

In his keynote speech, Vice Minister Lee will announce the ROK government’s pledges for the implementation of the United Nations’ “Global Compact on Refugees,” which was adopted in 2018.

The ROK government expects that the attendance at the forthcoming Forum will serve as an opportunity to reaffirm the ROK’s commitment to cooperation in responding to the global refugee issue and to share with the entire world the ROK’s contribution and good practices in the field.

(A question-and-answer session followed.)