Daily Press Briefing
Spokesperson Cho Hee-yong
January 11, 2008  14:00 KST

Opening Statement

Hello everyone. I will now begin the daily press briefing of January 11.

Travel-Alert to Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Kenya and Nigeria

The situations in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Kenya and Nigeria are recently becoming unstable. The Korean 
government is actively taking necessary measures to protect Korean people living in these countries. The 
MOFAT is arousing the attention of the Korean people who planned to visit these countries by upgrading 
Travel-Alerts, and is asking travel agencies, NGOs and missionaries to refrain from entering these four 
countries.

The Korean Embassies in these countries are operating emergency networks in the local Korean societies, 
and are informing real-time news on the local situation through e-mails, telephones and SMS services.

The four countries that I just mentioned are classified as Travel-Alert Level 2 and 3 Regions according to the 
criteria set by the Korean government. For those who plan to visit these areas, we ask you to postpone your 
scheduled trips and watch over how the situation develops until things settle down. 

We especially ask the people currently traveling the Travel-Alert Level 3 Regions to leave the regions unless 
the visits are unavoidable. Kenya was previously Travel-Alert Level 2 Region, but since the situation 
worsened in the southwestern region of the country, these areas were reclassified to Travel-Alert Level 3 
Regions. The Niger Delta area in Nigeria is currently classified as Travel-Alert Level 3 Region, so we urge 
Korean people to refrain from going to the country for the time being.

Moreover, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have both Travel-Alert Level 2 (Travel Refrain) and Travel-Alert Level 3 
(Travel Restricted) Regions, so we ask you to pay utmost heed to safety while visiting these two countries.

The 21st Round of the Korea-ASEAN FTA Negotiations

The 21st round of the Korea-ASEAN FTA negotiations will be held in Baguio, the Philippines, from January 14 
to 18.  At the upcoming round, the two sides will make efforts to lay a foundation for the conclusion of 
negotiations before the end of the year by discussing the remaining points at issue regarding the Agreement 
on Investment which has yet to be concluded, following the Agreement on Trade in Goods which came into 
effect on June 1, 2007, and the Agreement on Services which was signed in November 2007.

Ambassador of Ghana Passes Away

Ambassador Kwadwo Afoakwa Sarpong of Ghana passed away in Seoul yesterday due to a chronic disease.  
On behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, I would like to express deepest condolences to the 
bereaved family and pray for the repose of his soul.  Ambassador Sarpong had assumed office as the 
Ghanaian Ambassador to Korea in July 2006 and significantly contributed to the development of friendly and 
cooperative relations between Korea and Ghana.  Minister Song Min-soon will offer his condolences himself 
to the late Ambassador Sarpong by visiting the Embassy of Ghana in Seoul this afternoon.

Chinese Special Envoy's Visit to Korea

Minister Song Min-soon will receive a courtesy call of China's Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who will be 
visiting Korea as a Special Envoy of the Government of the People's Republic of China, on January 14.  He 
will meet Special Envoy Wang in the morning and then leave for Spain to attend the first High-level Meeting 
of the Alliance of Civilizations Annual Forum to be held in Madrid from January 15 to 16.  Vice Foreign Minister 
Cho Jung-pyo will meet with Special Wang Yi late in the afternoon of January 15.  

This is the end of my opening remarks.