1. The Republic of Korea will have its Embassy to the Netherlands submit to the Dutch Foreign Ministry an application to become a state party to the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction on December 13. The treaty will enter into force in Korea on March 1, 2013.

2. The Convention is a multilateral treaty developed to ensure prompt return of a child under the age of 16 abducted or wrongfully removed from his/her country of habitual residence. The Convention, brought into force in 1983, has 88 state parties as of December 2012.

3. The ROK, by becoming a signatory to the treaty, would gain ground for taking prompt action in the event that such a child abduction issue arises with other state parties to the Convention, including Sri Lanka, Singapore, Thailand, China (Hong Kong and Macao), the US and Canada. As such, the accession is expected to help settle issues concerning children’s human rights.

                             Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFAT

* unofficial translation