1. Minister Yu Myung-hwan met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on July 23 in Singapore on the 
sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and shared views on matters of 
mutual concern such as President Lee Myung-bak’s visit to Russia this year, bilateral cooperation in the 
development of energy and resources in the Far Eastern Siberia and the North Korean nuclear issue.

2. The two ministers noted that the Korea-Russia partnership continues to grow strong, as the Korea-Russia 
Summit was held during the G-8 Summit on July 9 in Toyako, Japan. With this momentum on hand, both 
sides agreed to broaden the scope of cooperation in areas of trade and investment, as well as in energy and 
resources area such as the development of oil fields in western Kamchatka and Korea’s import of Russian 
liquefied natural gas (LNG).

3. Minister Yu and Minister Lavrov agreed to work in close collaboration for the successful outcome of the 
Korea-Russia Summit slated for the latter half of this year. To this end, Minister Yu elaborated on his plans 
to visit Russia at the opportune time this autumn to discuss major pending issues for President Lee’s state 
visit to Russia.

4. Both sides shared a common view that the development of Far Eastern Siberia would greatly contribute to 
the promotion of substantial cooperation between Korea and Russia, as well as to the settlement of  peace 
and prosperity in Northeast Asia. They agreed to exert joint efforts in proceeding with trilateral cooperation 
projects among the ROK, DPRK and Russia such as the Trans-Siberian Railroad (TSR) and the Trans-
Korea Railroad (TKR) to this end.

5. Moreover, the two ministers shared a common view on measures to resolve the North Korean nuclear 
issue, and agreed to discuss the details at the unofficial Six-party Talks.

6. The bilateral meeting between the two foreign ministers is the first one since the launch of new 
administrations in both Korea and Russia. It is noted that both sides established a high-level cooperation 
channel and consolidated the foothold of Korea-Russia cooperation through this meeting.

                                                             Spokesperson of MOFAT

* unofficial translation