1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together with the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, hosted “the 8th Seminar on the Republic of Korea-Latin America Public Security Cooperation” at Lotte Hotel Seoul on November 26.

° The Seminar brought together about 80 people in the field at home and abroad, including representatives of drug control agencies of six Latin American countries as well as officials of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, the National Police Agency and the Korea Coast Guard of the ROK.

2. At the Seminar themed “ROK-Latin America Cooperation in the Fight against Drugs,” the participants shared their respective countries’ drug policies and cases of international collaboration, and discussed specific ways for the two regions to work together in the fight against drugs.

° The participants stressed in common that the ROK and Latin America need to cooperate in the fight against drugs, including by setting up an interagency hotline to respond preemptively to drug trafficking, and agreed to actively share relevant information.

° While in the ROK, delegates from Latin American countries will visit public security agencies, including the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, and the National Forensic Service.

3. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is seeking to advance relations with Latin America in new areas in a mutually beneficial way by promoting shared prosperity and expanding substantive cooperation with individual Latin American countries in areas of great need for practical cooperation.

° In this light, amid the recent increase in crackdowns on drugs smuggled into the ROK from Latin America, the Seminar is seen to have served as an opportunity to pave the way for cooperation between relevant agencies of the ROK and Latin America.