1. Second Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul will visit France on June 7 and 8 to attend the seminar to be co-hosted by the Republic of Korea’s Permanent Delegation to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the OECD Secretariat in Paris on June 8 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the ROK’s accession to the body.

° Vice Minister Cho will deliver opening remarks at the seminar, in which he will bring renewed attention to the historical significance of the ROK’s accession to the OECD, changes in the ROK society since the accession and the country’s contributions to the body. He will also present views on the vision and challenges for the next 20 years.

° Ahead of the seminar, the Vice Minister will hold meetings with OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría and Chairman Erik Solheim of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) for discussions on the significance of the 20th anniversary of the ROK’s accession to the OECD and ways for the ROK and the OECD to work more closely together.

2. Prior to his visit to France, Vice Minister Cho will visit Cuba from June 1 till 4 to attend a Summit of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) and then visit Spain from June 5 till 7.

° During his visit to Spain, the Vice Minister will hold meetings with Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Ignacio Ybanez Rubio; Secretary of State for International Cooperation and for Ibero-America Jesus Manuel Gracia Aldaz; and Secretary of State for Trade Jaime Garcia-Legaz Ponce. In the meetings, the two sides will discuss ways to step up bilateral cooperation. In particular, in the meeting with Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Ybanez, the two sides will seek ways to further strengthen coordination on the North Korean nuclear issue between the ROK and Spain, the chair country of the UN Security Council’s 1540 Committee and DPRK Sanctions Committee.


* unofficial translation