Press Briefing

Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Affairs Choi Youngsam

August 23, 2022  14:30  KST

Good afternoon. Let me start today’s briefing.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Park Jin will attend the official event to take place simultaneously in Seoul and Beijing tomorrow, Wednesday, August 24 to celebrate the 30^th anniversary of the establishment of Korea-China diplomatic relations.

This event will be held at Four Seasons Hotel Seoul and Villa 17 of the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing at 19:00, Korea Standard Time, and 18:00, Beijing time, respectively.

For your information, Villa 17 of the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing is the historic place where Korea and China signed on August 24, 1992 an agreement establishing diplomatic relations.

In Seoul, Foreign Minister Park will read President Yoon Suk Yeol’s congratulatory letter over the 30^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties. Likewise, in Beijing, State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi will read that from President Xi Jinping.

At 18:00, the same day, KST, Foreign Minister Park Jin, along with Foreign Minister Wang Yi, will join the event that will be held virtually at the Plaza Hotel Seoul and the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing for the Committee for Future-Oriented Development of Korea-China Relations to submit its joint report.

The Committee for Future-Oriented Development of Korea-China Relations was launched on the diplomatic anniversary last year, comprised of Korean and Chinese experts in a range of areas.

After about a year of active discussions since its launch, the Committee drew up a joint report containing policy suggestions in various areas, to submit to the governments of the two countries.

The Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs expects that the events marking the 30^th anniversary of the establishment of Korea-China diplomatic relations will serve as a significant opportunity to review the implications of the 30^th diplomatic anniversary and the achievements made over the past 30 years, and to seek the desirable way forward for Korea-China relations.

Lastly, Foreign Minister Park will preside over the 6^th meeting of the public diplomacy committee at 15:00, tomorrow, Wednesday, August 24.

In his opening remarks, Foreign Minister Park will highlight the importance of public diplomacy in building a “global pivotal state” as advocated by the government, as well as the need to strengthen private-public cooperation and government-wide cooperation on public diplomacy through digital public diplomacy.

At its forthcoming meeting, the public diplomacy committee will review and finalize the “Five-Year Plan for Public Diplomacy (2023-2027),” a government-wide mid- to long-term strategy on public diplomacy to be implemented over next five years, and discuss ways to work with local governments on public diplomacy and step up digital public diplomacy by embracing new technologies such as metaverse and artificial intelligence (AI).

(A question-and-answer session followed.)