“President Yoon Seok-yeol’s Summit Diplomacy with Korea-Pacific Island Countries in 2023”

2023-05-28 11:23:00

On the followingnoon of the 28th, President Yoon Seok-yeol started summit diplomacy with the leaders of the five Korea-Pacific Island Countries in 2023 at the Presidential Office in Yongsan.

From 3:00 p.m., President Yoon held summit talks with Kiribati President Tanetti Maamau, Tonga Prime Minister Xiaosi Sovaleni, Tuvalu Prime Minister Kausea Natano, Vanuatu Prime Minister Ismael Kalsakau, and Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape. The dialogue channel between the bureaus was upgraded to the highest level.

Spokesman Lee Do-woon of the Presidential Office said in a written briefing, “President Yoon welcomed heads of state who visited Korea to attend the ‘2023 Korea-Pacific Islands Summit’.” “The leaders of the five countries who attended today’s bilateral meeting thanked President Yoon for his leadership in holding the historic Korea-Pacific Islands Summit and opening a forum for communication between the leaders,” he said.

President Yoon said on the day, “We will examine the current status of bilateral cooperation with each Pacific Island country, which has built ties with us for more than half a century, and look at the interests of Pacific Island countries, such as development cooperation, climate change response, maritime cooperation, and health infrastructure construction. Let’s expand mutually beneficial cooperation in the field.”

In response, the heads of state responded by saying, “We are greatly encouraged by the ROK’s interest in and support for Pacific Island Countries as it expands its ODA contributions.” In particular, the leaders of the Pacific Island Countries said at the meeting that the Republic of Korea’s remarkable success story serves as a good model for their country’s development plans, and hoped to expand the quality and quantity of cooperation in overall fields, including development cooperation, in the future, the Presidential Office said. . The following are the main contents of the summit meeting with each country.

#Kiribati Summit = President Yoon emphasized, “Kiribati has great potential for cooperation in the fisheries sector as our largest deep-sea fishing ground in terms of fishing volume among Pacific Island countries,” and Kiribati’s support for the safe and smooth operation of our fishing boats. requested

In response, President Maamau said that he wanted to inherit Korea’s economic development know-how (knowledge sharing, capacity building, etc.) and hoped to expand cooperation with Korea in the areas of maritime and fisheries (development specialized for fishing villages) and health care (KOICA’s ODA). said to do

#Tonga = President Yoon said, “Tonga, which was the first Pacific Island country to establish diplomatic relations with us in 1970, has been building a solid cooperative relationship as the first link connecting Korea and Pacific Island countries.” At the time of the submarine volcanic eruption, Prime Minister Sovalenyi’s quick and effective response prevented any damage to 24 Koreans.”

“Thanks to Korea’s support, the reconstruction project is proceeding smoothly,” said Prime Minister Sovaleni. I hope,” he replied.

#Tuvalu = President Yoon said, “At several international conferences, the Pacific Islands are facing existential threats due to climate change. “I appreciate Prime Minister Roh’s efforts,” he said. “Korea will take the lead in reducing carbon emissions and responding to climate change.”

“Prime Minister Natano said he hoped to cooperate with Korea in particular in the fields of telecommunications equipment improvement, climate change response (hydrogen extraction), and marine fisheries (decarbonized shipping industry),” the presidential office said.

#Vanuatu = President Yun praised Prime Minister Kalsakau for his international leadership, including leading the UN General Assembly resolution (March 2023) seeking an advisory opinion from the ICJ (International Court of Justice) on the country’s obligations in response to climate change. He continued, “We will strengthen cooperation in the areas of climate change and development cooperation.”

Prime Minister Kalsakau expressed gratitude for the various supports that the Korean government has made so far, including humanitarian aid and power supply projects for cyclone damage in March, and expressed his hope that Korea will play a leading role in various port development projects planned by Vanuatu. requested

#Papua New Guinea (PNG)) = President Yoon said that PNG, with a population of regarding 10 million, is a gateway to the Pacific region, and people-to-people exchanges and economic trade between the two countries are actively taking place. He asked for cooperation to work together with Korea for prosperity. At the same time, President Yoon expressed appreciation for PNG’s support for hosting the Busan Expo.

PNG, which is rich in natural resources (oil, gold, gas, etc.), strongly hoped for investment and advancement by world-class Korean manufacturing companies, and President Yoon responded that he would consider investing in PNG, given the importance of PNG, such as the reopening of the KOICA office. did.

The presidential office announced that the bilateral meeting between President Yun and the leaders of the Pacific Islands will continue on the 29th.

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