1. The government of the Republic of Korea will dispatch Representative Jeong Mun-heon of the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee of the National Assembly as a special envoy to the inauguration ceremony of Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes to be held on August 15.

2. The ROK and Paraguay have steadily advanced their cooperative ties in various fields since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1962. The ROK, in particular, chose Paraguay as one of its major official development assistance (ODA) partners in 2011 and has since actively shared its development experiences with the country to help it achieve national development.

* The ROK’s grant aid to Paraguay from 1991 through 2012 amounted to 48.04 million US dollars.

° Paraguay, a key destination for the ROK’s immigrant farmers in the 1960s, served as Koreans’ immigrant gateway to the Americas.

3. Before the inauguration ceremony, special envoy Jeong will pay courtesy calls on leading figures of the new Paraguayan government, including new President Cartes, new Vice President Juan Afara and President of the Senate Alejandro Velazquez, on August 14. On those occasions, he will relay the hope and the willingness of the ROK government to expand and deepen bilateral cooperation under the Park and the incoming Cartes governments.

                     Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

* unofficial translation