1. First Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam, together with his Colombian counterpart Francisco Echeverri, held the second high-level policy consultation between the Republic of Korea and Colombia in Bogota, Colombia, on March 1.

2. In the consultation, the two sides reviewed the progress in bilateral cooperation across the board, including political and consular affairs, economy and culture, and extensively exchanged views on ways to work together in such global and regional organizations as the UN, the Pacific Alliance (PA) and FEALAC.

° In particular, the two sides agreed to smoothly implement the bilateral FTA in force since July 2016 and to broaden the scope of exchanges to include not only economy and trade but also resources, infrastructure and people-to-people exchanges.

3. In the first high-level meeting between the ROK and Colombia since the conclusion of the Colombian peace agreement in 2016, Vice Minister Lim commended Colombia over the success in the peace talks; spoke of the ROK government’s ongoing review of ways to support various post-war reconstruction projects in Colombia, including increasing its financial contribution to the UN’s project to remove anti-personnel mines in the country; and asked for the Colombian government’s keen attention to and support for bids of Korean companies to take part in a variety of infrastructure-rebuilding projects.

4. Vice Minister Lim, calling North Korea’s launch of a ballistic missile on February 12 and other reckless provocations in defiance of repeated warnings from the international community a grave threat to the entire international community, asked Colombia to remain cooperative with the international community in its efforts to put pressure on the North, including by implementing the relevant UN Security Council sanctions resolutions.

° Deputy Minister Echeverri shared the Vice Minister’s view that the international community should be consistent and united in order to induce North Korea to change its behavior; reaffirmed Colombia’s clear opposition to nuclear and missile development by North Korea; and pledged full support for the ROK government’s policy on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula as well as toward the North.

5. Later in the day, Vice Minister Lim met with President Jose Luis Perez Oyuela of the International Relations Commission, during which the two sides reaffirmed the friendly and cooperative ties between their two countries and discussed matters of mutual concern, including the bilateral FTA and Colombia’s post-war reconstruction efforts.

6. Vice Minister Lim’s visit to Colombia, the only Latin American country that fought alongside the ROK in the Korean War and the ROK’s long-standing partner, is seen to have served as an opportunity to strengthen the bilateral strategic cooperative partnership, to relay the ROK’s willingness to contribute to Colombia’s post-war rebuilding efforts and thereby to enhance the ROK’s standing in the international community.


* unofficial translation