1. The 12th MIKTA (Mexico, Indonesia, Korea, Turkey and Australia) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting took place on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Buenos Aires on May 21. Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun led a delegation of the Republic of Korea to the meeting.
※ Heads of delegations of the other countries: (Indonesia) Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, (Mexico) Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray, (Australia) Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, and (Turkey) Deputy Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Murat Yavuz Ates
2. The participants of the MIKTA Foreign Ministers’ Meeting took note that since the creation of MIKTA in September 2013, cooperation has expanded in a range of areas for the past 5 years, and agreed to actively consult on ways to facilitate MIKTA in order to expand its contribution to global issues and strengthen substantive cooperation among the MIKTA member states.
3. The participants also exchanged constructive views on the emerging regional and global issues, including the latest progress in the inter-Korean relations, the situation in Myanmar's Rakhine State, the situation after the presidential election in Venezuela, Syrian refugees, and responses to trade protectionism.
o Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun explained the results of the 2018 inter-Korean summit, and said that the ROK will continue to push for an improvement in the inter-Korean relations based on cooperation and support from the international community, including the MIKTA members. The other participants expressed their support for the ROK’s efforts to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula.
※ The MIKTA member states adopted a foreign ministers’ joint statement on the Korean Peninsula issues twice this year.
- joint statement extending congratulations on the PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games and welcoming the latest developments on the Korean Peninsula (March 18) / joint statement extending congratulations on the success of the 2018 inter-Korean summit (April 30)
4. At the end of the meeting, the participants expressed deep condolences to the victims who lost their lives in the terrorist bombings in Surabaya, Indonesia, and their bereaved families, and agreed to further step up cooperation among the MIKTA members on global issues, including efforts to eliminate terrorism.
※ The foreign ministers of the MIKTA member states adopted a joint statement condemning the terrorist bombings in Surabaya, Indonesia (May 14).
* unofficial translation