Press Briefing 

Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Affairs Soosuk Lim

March 30, 2023  14:30  KST

Good afternoon. Let me start today’s briefing.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Park Jin, together with Minister for Foreign Affairs of Indonesia Retno L.P. Marsudi, will hold the 4th Joint Commission Meeting tomorrow.

In the upcoming Meeting, Foreign Ministers Park and Retno will discuss ways for the two countries to work together in diverse areas, including trade and investment, resources and energy, and infrastructure and the defense industry.

They will also cover ways to step up cooperation between Korea and Indonesia, this year’s Chair of ASEAN, in implementing the Korea-ASEAN Solidarity Initiative (KASI), which is the Korean government’s policy toward ASEAN. 

The forthcoming Joint Commission Meeting is expected to serve as an opportunity to further advance the relations between Korea and Indonesia, which mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties this year.

Moving on, let me share with you the Korean government’s position on a recent development in Myanmar.

Since the beginning of the Myanmar crisis, the Korean government has consistently called for the cessation of violence, the release of the arbitrarily detained prisoners, and a swift restoration of democracy in Myanmar.

Despite such calls, 40 political parties in Myanmar, including the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by former State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, were dissolved yesterday pursuant to the country’s revised Political Parties Registration Law. The Korean government deems the move inconducive to the resolution of the crisis through the participation of all parties concerned, and expresses concern over it. 

The Korean government continues to support the commencement of inclusive dialogue among all parties concerned for a peaceful resolution of the Myanmar crisis as well as for the restoration of democracy, and once again calls for the implementation of the ASEAN Five-Point Consensus, including such dialogue. 

(A question-and-answer session followed.)