1. On the occasion of the 73^rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Kyung-wha met bilaterally with Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States of the Holy See, on September 28 and discussed with him the Republic of Korea-Holy See relations and the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

2. Minister Kang extended appreciation to Pope Francis for issuing messages on the occasion of such major events as inter-Korean and US-Democratic People's Republic of Korea summit talks to express wish for peace on the Korean Peninsula; and asked the Holy See to continue to pay attention to and support efforts to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula.

※ Since his inauguration, Pope Francis has issued nine messages for the ROK, including in the hope of the success of the US-DPRK summit talks (June 10) and in support of the inter-Korean summit (April 27) and its positive results (April 29).

3. Secretary Gallagher, viewing the outcome of the third inter-Korean summit in a positive light, emphasized the importance of the ROK government’s commitment to lead forward the inter-Korean relations and the denuclearization process.

4. With the year 2018 marking the 55^th anniversary of the establishment of the ROK-Holy See diplomatic relations, the Minister and the Secretary agreed to boost already-robust exchanges and thereby further advance the bilateral relations.

* unofficial translation