1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will hold from November 5 to 10 the 2nd round of its 2018 invitation program for public security officials of foreign countries with the aim to pave the way for robust cooperation with governments of foreign countries in the event that incidents, accidents and disasters involving Koreans occur in those countries. For the forthcoming round, a combined eight public security and disaster-related officials of Japan, the Kingdom of Thailand, Malaysia, the Republic of Indonesia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, the Czech Republic, and the Oriental Republic of Uruguay have been invited to the Republic of Korea.

° Amid the number of overseas Koreans growing, -- 26 million Korean travelers and another 2.5 million Korean residents abroad in 2017 -- those invited to the program mainly include public security and disaster-related officials of countries where Koreans are often subjected to incidents or accidents; which have been highly cooperative in the protection of local Koreans; and which the ROK needs to work with in the field.

2. In the ROK, the foreign officials will be briefed on the Foreign Ministry’s system for the protection of the overseas Koreans and visit the Consular Call Center to see for themselves the ROK government’s system for protecting the overseas Koreans; visit the Seoul Metropolitan Policy Agency, the National Police Agency and other organizations related to the protection of the ROK nationals; and take part in various other programs, including visits to historical, security, industrial and cultural facilities. By doing so, they will enhance their understanding of the ROK’s politics, economy and culture, and build networks with Korean government officials.

3. The upcoming invitation program for public security officials of foreign countries, the ninth of its kind since the first held in 2015, is expected to help the foreign participants develop a more positive view on the ROK and to reinforce foundations of cooperation between the ROK’s overseas diplomatic missions and public security and disaster-related agencies of their host countries, thereby contributing to strengthening the ROK government’s capacity to protect the overseas Koreans.

* unofficial translation