1. The eleventh meeting among the directors-general for Latin American affairs of the Republic of Korea, China and Japan will take place in Seoul on March 7 to mainly discuss ways to promote multi-level cooperation with the Latin American countries.

° The meeting, held on an annual basis since 2006, has grown into a signature platform for the ROK-China-Japan cooperation on diplomacy toward Latin America.

° The ROK, Japanese and Chinese delegations to the meeting will be led by Director-General for Latin American and Caribbean Affairs Huh Tae-wan; Director-General of the Latin America and Caribbean Bureau Takahiro Nakamae and Director-General of the Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs Zhao Bentang of the three countries’ Foreign Ministries, respectively.

※ The meeting, chaired by the three countries on a rotational basis, is held as part of the efforts to conduct cooperation in Asia pursuant to “the Action Plan for Promoting Trilateral Cooperation” adopted at the trilateral summit talks in November 2004.

※ The tenth round took place in Beijing on January 25, 2017.

2. In the forthcoming meeting, the ROK, China and Japan will extensively discuss the politico-economic situation in Latin America; cooperation with the region across the board, including economy and development; cooperation with major regional organizations in Latin America; and overall diplomacy toward the region, such as ways to broaden the diplomatic horizon.

° The meeting will also cover in depth ways to implement and work together on the main measures -- including the fund operation and the new action plan -- agreed upon at the eighth Foreign Ministers’ Meeting of the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) held in Busan in August 2017, as well as the way forward for FEALAC.

※ FEALAC is the only multilateral inter-governmental consultative mechanism between East Asia (16 countries) and Latin America (20 countries).

3. The upcoming meeting is expected to provide meaningful implications for the ROK as it seeks to bolster diplomacy toward Latin America as part of the new ROK government’s all-out efforts for diplomatic diversification.

° The meeting, which will come amid keen interest of the international community in Latin America, is expected to serve as a useful opportunity to seek ways for the ROK, China and Japan, which are spearheading cooperation between Asia and Latin America in the 21st-century Pacific era, to work more closely together.

※ With major six Latin American countries, including Mexico, Brazil and Venezuela, scheduled to hold presidential elections in 2018, the region faces a higher-than-ever uncertainty regarding changes in the political landscape and is paying keen attention to potential socio-economic impact of those changes.

4. On the sidelines of the trilateral meeting, the ROK side will hold bilateral meetings with the Japanese and Chinese sides for extensive discussions on matters of mutual concern, including ways to work together at FEALAC, to cooperate with the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and other main think tanks in Latin America, and to render assistance to their nationals residing in the region.

* unofficial translation