1. Lee Jooil, Director-General for Latin American and Caribbean Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, visited Tokyo, Japan, and held the 17th meeting of the Korean and Japanese Directors-General for Latin American and Caribbean Affairs with his Japanese counterpart Noguchi Yasushi at the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday, February 14.

2. The two Directors-General exchanged views on the rapidly changing global environment and the consequent changes in the Latin American situation. They also discussed their respective countries’ foreign policies toward Latin America, the progress in their engagements in the region, and cooperation with Latin American regional organizations.

3. Additionally, the two Directors-General agreed to strengthen diplomatic coordination by utilizing collaborative frameworks, such as the meeting of the Korean and Japanese Directors-General for Latin American and Caribbean Affairs and the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC), with the aim of responding efficiently to the situation in Latin America and exploring new areas of collaboration in the region.

4. This meeting served as an opportunity to expand the scope of Korea-Japan cooperation to include Latin American affairs on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries and to strengthen communication between their diplomatic authorities on policies related to Latin America.