1. Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang, Kyung-wha met separately with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of Jordan Ayman Hussein Al-Safadi and Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Nayef Falah Mubarak Al-Hajraf on December 5 on the occasion of the 16th Manama Dialogue (Dec. 4-6, Manama, Bahrain).

2. (Korea-Jordan Foreign Ministers’ Meeting) Foreign Ministers Kang and Safadi discussed the P4G Summit, bilateral relations, and the current situation in the Middle East.

o Foreign Minister Kang delivered President Moon Jae-in’s letter inviting King Abdullah II of Jordan to the P4G Summit to be held in Seoul in May next year and asked Jordan, a member of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), to attend the Summit. Foreign Minister Safadi expressed appreciation for Korea’s invitation and offered to continue close consultations on the issue.

o The two Foreign Ministers expressed satisfaction that the two countries are closely cooperating on humanitarian assistance including assistance relating to Syrian refugee issues, and exchanged in-depth views on the current situation in the Middle East including the Israel-Palestine issue.

3. (Meeting with GCC Secretary General) Foreign Minister Kang noted that Korea and the GCC member states have been developing mutually-beneficial relations by closely cooperating in various fields including energy and infrastructure construction, and expressed hope that the two sides would further strengthen exchanges and communication including holding the Korea-GCC Strategic Dialogue.

o GCC Secretary General Nayef said that Korea is the GCC’s important cooperation partner and the two sides need to continue to reinforce cooperation despite COVID-19, and went on to suggest that the two sides further enhance bilateral cooperation through the resumption of the negotiations on the Korea-GCC FTA that has been suspended since 2009.