1. On July 10, First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yong met with his Honduran counterpart Robert Ochoa, who was on a visit to the Republic of Korea for the “foreign official invitation program” of the Korea Foundation. In the meeting, the two sides discussed ways to work together in a wide range of fields, including politics, economy, trade, development and security.

2. Vice Minister Cho took note of the advances in the friendly and cooperative ties between the ROK and Honduras in various fields, including politics, economy and culture, since the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations in 1962. He added that active high-level exchanges, including the visits to the ROK by Honduran Foreign Minister Mireya Agüero and Vice Minister Ochoa in July 2013 and 2014, respectively, helped build an important momentum for expanding mutually beneficial substantive cooperation between the two countries.

3. Vice Minister Ochoa, mentioning that the Honduran government considers the ROK as its development model, voiced hope to increase substantive cooperation with the ROK in various fields.

º The Vice Minister spoke of the Honduran government’s efforts to build a special zone for employment promotion and economic development modeled after Daedeok Innopolis and Songdo Newtown and asked for interest and support of the ROK government in this regard. He also conveyed hope to learn from the ROK’s experiences of Saemaul Undong (new village movement) in the course of Honduras’ pursuit of national development.

4. Vice Minister Cho asked the Honduran government to take interest in and render support to Korean companies operating in Honduras. Vice Minister Ochoa mentioned that his government will take a special interest and cooperate in ensuring the safety of Korean people and companies in his country.

5. The two sides, citing the great potential for bilateral cooperation in economy, agreed to expand substantive cooperation in trade and investment and to seek further advances in their cooperative ties on the international stage as well.

6. The ROK-Honduras meeting was the first opportunity since the inauguration of Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez in January 2014 for high-level officials of the Foreign Ministries of the two countries to get together and discuss in depth ways to increase substantive cooperation in a wide range of fields. As such, it is seen to have played a role in further expanding and deepening the long-standing friendly and cooperative ties between the ROK government and the new Honduran government. 


               Spokesperson and Vice Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

* unofficial translation