1. Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se met with his Colombian counterpart Maria Angela Holguin on January 7 to discuss ways to promote substantive cooperation between the Republic of Korea and Colombia across the board, including political affairs, trade, infrastructure and development, as well as on the international stage.

2. Minister Yun described Colombia, the only Latin American country that had fought alongside the ROK in the Korean War, as the ROK’s special friend, and voiced hope to maintain close cooperation between the two partners in the Pacific era.

◦ The two Ministers noted with appreciation the recent significant advances in bilateral relations in a wide range of fields, including not only trade and investment but also infrastructure, development, public healthcare and education. They agreed to continue expanding and deepening their cooperative ties.

3. Minister Yun took note of the ROK-Colombia FTA signed in February 2013 as a potential institutional foundation for further promoting bilateral cooperation across the board in a mutually beneficial way. In that regard, he welcomed the FTA’s ratification by the Colombian Congress in December 2014 and asked the Colombian government to make strong efforts to bring the FTA into effect as soon as possible.

◦ Minister Holguin, mentioning that the Colombian Congress’ ratification on December 16, 2014, had drawn the FTA closer to its effectuation, vowed to make efforts toward an early completion of the remaining domestic process, including a review of the FTA’s constitutionality by Colombia’s Constitutional Court.

4. Minister Yun expressed hope that Korean companies with world-class technology and abundant business experience will be offered opportunities to participate in large-scale state-funded projects of Colombia and thereby to contribute to the development of infrastructure in the country.

5. Minister Holguin extended appreciation to the ROK, saying that the ROK’s development cooperation projects in Colombia are contributing greatly to its socio-economic development and expressing hope for closer cooperation in the field down the road. Minister Yun mentioned that the ROK will continue close cooperation with Colombia, one of the ROK’s key partners for development cooperation, so as to help Colombia achieve sustainable development.

6. The two Ministers, taking note of close bilateral collaboration at the UN and other international mechanisms, agreed to work more closely together at regional consultative mechanisms of Latin America, including the Pacific Alliance and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).

7. The meeting between the two Foreign Ministers marked the first of its kind since the launch of the second-term administration of President Juan Manuel Santos Calderon in August 2014. It is seen to have served as an opportunity to review the progress in bilateral cooperation across the board and to expand the basis for future cooperation.

8. In 2015, starting with the visit to the ROK by the Colombian Foreign Minister and that by the Bolivian Foreign Minister from January 10 through 12, the ROK government will put into full gear diplomacy with Latin American countries toward co-prosperity and cooperation. 


               Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

* unofficial translation