1. First Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam, together with his Spanish counterpart, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Ignacio Ybáñez Rubio, held the eleventh Republic of Korea-Spain policy consultation in Seoul on July 25. In their meeting, the two ranking diplomats engaged in an extensive exchange of views on ways to step up the ROK-Spain substantive cooperation, including for joint entry into third countries; the North Korean nuclear issue and the situation in Northeast Asia; and ways to work together at the UN and on other international stages.

2. The two sides, taking note of the continuously growing bilateral trade even amid the global economic crisis, agreed to increase exchanges between business people of the two countries, including those at the chambers of commerce, in an effort to further boost substantive cooperation across the board, including science, technology, cultural exchanges, tourism, infrastructure and transportation.

3. With regard to the North Korean nuclear issue, Vice Minister Lim extended appreciation to Spain for its strong support for the ROK’s position on the nuclear and human rights issues of North Korea while it served as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council and chair country of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Sanctions Committee and the 1540 Committee on non-proliferation from 2015 to 2016. He asked the Spanish government to continue support and cooperation for a thorough implementation of Security Council Resolution 2270.

° Secretary Ybáñez shared the view that in order to bring North Korea onto the path toward denuclearization, it is necessary for the international community to continuously express to North Korea its strong commitment to the North’s denuclearization by thoroughly implementing UN Security Council Resolution 2270. On that note, he reaffirmed the Spanish government’s willingness to continue playing a role in that regard.

4. In view of the development of the bilateral policy consultation, which has taken place eleven times since 1988, into a platform for discussions on bilateral, regional and global issues, the two sides agreed to call the meeting strategic dialogue, starting in 2017.

5. The ROK-Spain policy consultation on July 25 is seen to have served as an opportunity to further step up substantive cooperation on the bilateral, regional and global levels with Spain, the chair country of the Security Council’s DPRK Sanctions Committee and major member state of the EU.


* unofficial translation