Korea and New Zealand, at a bilateral summit meeting held in Gyeongju on Thursday, October 30, on the occasion of the 2025 APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting, agreed to elevate bilateral relations to a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP)” and issued a document on the current state of and way forward for bilateral cooperation under three pillars: (i) Strategy and Security; (ii) Prosperity and Innovation; and (iii) People and Planet.

※ Prior to this elevation, the two countries were in “Partnership for the 21st Century” established in December 2006.

The document includes, inter alia, details about the following:

 - The annualization of meetings between the Foreign Ministers and the launch of a deputy minister-level Strategic  Dialogue to revitalize high-level exchanges;

 - The regularization of the Economic Security Dialogue;

 - New Zealand’s expression of its intention to join the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP)*;

 - The update of the Double Taxation Agreement;

 - The launch of bilateral Antarctic Consultations;

 - The signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation on emergency management;

 - Joint research in science and technology.

* The MSP, a multilateral partnership launched in June 2022, aims to accelerate the development of stable and diverse supply chains for critical minerals worldwide, and is currently chaired by the Republic of Korea.