1. Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, who is participating in the 68th session of the UN General Assembly, attended a meeting of foreign ministers of middle-power countries held on the morning of September 25. The meeting was attended by foreign ministers of five countries, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Indonesia, Turkey and Australia. In particular, the meeting holds big significance in that it is the first meeting to launch a mechanism for cooperation between key middle-power countries in the international community.

2. At the meeting, the five foreign ministers shared the view that in the current situation where challenges facing the international community are becoming more diverse and complex, middle-power countries, which have the willingness and capabilities to contribute to the development of the international community, need to create a cooperation mechanism to address the challenges. They agreed to hold the meeting of middle-power countries’ foreign ministers on a regular basis.

3. The foreign ministers also decided to operate the cooperation mechanism between middle-power countries not as a new exclusive bloc in the international community but as an unofficial consultation to freely exchange opinions on major global issues. They agreed to play a bridging role between countries with different views on the global stage, such as the UN and G20. They also decided to expand their role in establishing a better world order by taking advantage of individual middle-power countries’ diplomatic asset and cooperation mechanism.

4. Furthermore, the five foreign ministers engaged in a broad exchange of opinions on the operation of the foreign ministers’ meeting and decided to temporarily call the meeting of middle-power countries “MIKTA” by combining the first letters of the names of the participating countries. They agreed to set the agenda for the meeting with a focus on global issues of common concern and discussed plans for priority tasks for the next few months.

* MIKTA: Mexico, Indonesia, Korea, Turkey, Australia

5. Minister Yun has played a leading role in discussing the launch of the cooperation mechanism between middle-power countries. At the foreign ministers’ meeting, Minister Yun proposed specific ways to run the cooperation mechanism, creating common ground among the participating foreign ministers.

o Minister Yun has actively consulted with relevant countries in the process of launching the foreign ministers’ meeting. In their telephone conversation in August, Minister Yun and his Mexican counterpart Meade agreed to launch the cooperation mechanism between middle-power countries on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. At G20, Minister Yun and Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoglu discussed ways to materialize cooperation among middle-power countries during the UN General Assembly. Furthermore, on the margins of the ARF Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Brunei in July, Minister Yun agreed with Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty and former Australian Foreign Minister Carr on the importance of middle-power diplomacy.

o In addition, in order to manage the foreign ministers’ meeting in a consistent and systematic manner, Minister Yun offered to review and discuss in detail ways to operate the cooperation mechanism, including the frequency of the meeting and the appointment of a chair and a coordinator. It has been decided that Mexico will serve as a coordinator for one year, starting this year.

6. The five foreign ministers presented agenda of concern for their countries respectively and Minister Yun presented development cooperation, cyber security, nuclear security, climate change and environment. In particular, Minister Yun stressed the importance of international cooperation in cyber security in the recent situation where cyber attacks are posing a new threat to security. The Minister explained that the Seoul Conference on Cyberspace 2013 to be held in October will actively seek to build common ground on cyber issues in the international community and asked for middle-power countries’ much interest and participation.

o Indonesian and Australian Foreign Ministers Marty and Bishop confirmed that they would attend the upcoming Seoul Conference on Cyberspace.

7. The latest meeting of foreign ministers is a meeting of middle-power countries which share core values of democracy and market economy and have the willingness and capabilities to contribute to the development of the international community. The meeting is expected to serve as a useful forum to discuss a variety of global and regional issues and to explore ways to help resolve them, while maintaining transparency and flexibility.

o The foreign ministers also decided to review the release of a joint statement on a particular issue, if necessary.

8. Amid this rapidly changing global situation and environment, efforts only by big powers and other particular countries are not enough to select and address global issues that influence the entire international community. The launch of a new mechanism among middle-power countries, which have a certain level of political and economic status and capabilities, as well as the willingness to contribute to creating a new world order, is expected to help resolve issues facing the international community and maintain world peace.

9. The Park Geun-hye government chose “becoming a responsible middle-power country contributing to world peace and development” as one of major policy tasks and has made active efforts to achieve that. The launch of the cooperation mechanism between middle-power countries can be seen as a meaningful step in middle-power diplomacy that was possible through the ROK’s significant efforts.

10. Building upon its leadership role in launching the foreign ministers’ meeting, the ROK government will continue to actively work to develop the cooperation mechanism between middle-power countries. Furthermore, based on its successful diplomacy over the past six months with neighboring countries, including the US, China and Russia, the ROK will pursue middle-power diplomacy, expanding its diplomatic horizon in the international community. The ROK will also continue to work to increase its role and status as a responsible and trustworthy member of the international community. 


                 Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

*unofficial translation