1. Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Yeo Seung-bae, together with Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia-Pacific Affairs Igor Morgulov of Russia, held the 19^th Korea-Russia Policy Consultation on August 23 and exchanged views on bilateral relations, ways to step up bilateral substantive cooperation, and global and regional affairs.

※ Past policy consultations between Korea and Russia

- 18^th consultation held in Moscow on May 17, 2018

- 17^th consultation held in Seoul on November 27, 2017

- 16^th consultation held in Moscow on July 6, 2016

2. The two sides noted with appreciation that bilateral relations have strengthened through active high-level exchanges even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Such exchanges include the phone calls between the presidents and between the prime ministers, the visit of a special presidential envoy of Korea to Russia last year and the visit of Russia’s foreign minister to Korea in March, the visit of the chairman of the Korean National Assembly to Russia in May, and finally Russian Deputy Minister Igor Morgulov’s visit to Korea this week.

º Deputy Minister Yeo welcomed that the bilateral trade volume has reached USD 11.9 billion in the first half of this year under difficult conditions, up more than 30% from the same period of the previous year, and suggested that the two countries expand cooperation in various areas, including political affairs, the economy, and people-to-people exchanges.

º Deputy Minister Morgulov noted that Korea is an important partner to Russia in the Asia-Pacific region; he mentioned that Korea was one of the first destinations of Foreign Minister Lavrov’s trip to Northeast Asia in March and the first destination of his own travel abroad since the COVID-19 outbreak.

3. The two sides agreed to continue enhancing bilateral economic cooperation mainly through the Nine Bridges projects* based on common interests in ensuring peace and mutual prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and in the Eurasian region.

* The Nine Bridges are energy, railways & infrastructure, ship-building, ports & navigation, health, agriculture & fisheries, investment, innovation platforms, and tourism & culture.

º Deputy Minister Yeo, expressing satisfaction with active cooperation in the shipbuilding sector*, also hoped that the two sides will work together to advance key cooperation projects such as the creation of the Korean Industrial Complex in Primorsky Krai** and the conclusion of an FTA in the service and investment sectors. He then asked the Russian government to provide support in addressing the difficulties that Korean enterprises in Russia are facing.

* In 2020, major Korean companies concluded shipbuilding contracts with Russia, the total value of which amounts to KRW 6 trillion.

** This is a joint project of building a Korean Industrial Complex in the Nadejinskaya Advanced Special Economic Zone located in Primorsky Krai.

º Deputy Minister Morgulov voiced hope that bilateral cooperation in developing the Far East and the Siberian region will be invigorated further, along with the successful implementation of the Korean Industrial Complex project in Primorsky Krai.

º Moreover, the two sides agreed to expand the scope of cooperation in the fields of future growth, including innovation, health, and the Arctic region*.

* Russia currently holds chairmanship of the Arctic Council (May 2021 - May 2023) and is pursuing the construction of a “carbon-zero” Arctic base, named Snowflake, as the main project. Korea is participating in this project and discussing concrete ways to cooperate with Russia.

4. The two sides shared the view that there is a strong need for promoting regional cooperation in healthcare in the current pandemic situation. In this context, Deputy Minister Yeo asked for Russia's continuous support for and participation in the Northeast Asia Cooperation for Health Security (NEACHS), an initiative aimed at strengthening joint response capacity to effectively address transboundary epidemics and infectious diseases.

* The initiative was proposed by President Moon Jae-in in his keynote speech at the UN General Assembly session held in September 2020. It was launched in December 2020 with participation of six countries (Korea, the United States, Japan, Russia, China, and Mongolia), and the 3^rd virtual meeting on NEACHS was held on May 27.

5. The two sides also agreed to make joint efforts to successfully hold the 3rd Interregional Cooperation Forum and the “2020-2021 Year of Mutual Exchange between Korea and Russia” to ensure that bilateral exchanges in civil society and between local governments remain active.

* Korea and Russia announced the Year of Mutual Exchanges in celebration of the 30^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 2020. Later, considering the COVID-19 situation, the two sides agreed to extend the Year of Mutual Exchanges to the end of 2021. The opening ceremony took place on the occasion of the visit of Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov to Korea in March. Various cultural events will be held both online and offline throughout this year.

6. In addition, the two deputy ministers exchanged views on a wide range of global and regional affairs including the current situation in Afghanistan.

7. Shortly after the policy consultation, Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong had a separate meeting with Deputy Minister Morgulov.

8. The 19^th Policy Consultation served as a meaningful opportunity to plan for future high-level exchanges and to have in-depth discussions on concrete ways to step up substantive cooperation between the two countries.