1. On November 15, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se held a meeting and a working dinner with Foreign Minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa of Uruguay, who was on a visit to the Republic of Korea. The two top diplomats discussed the ROK-Uruguay relations, the North Korean nuclear issue, and ways to increase substantive cooperation and to work together on the international stage.

2. With regard to the fourth and fifth nuclear tests and the launch of a long-range missile by North Korea in 2016, Minister Yun extended appreciation to Uruguay for its active role as a member of the UN Security Council, including in the lead-up to the adoption of Security Council Resolution 2270.

° In addition, the Minister asked for the Uruguayan government’s cooperation in the ongoing discussions at the Security Council on the proposed new sanctions resolution on North Korea and at the UN General Assembly on the resolution on the human rights situation in the North.

° In response, Minister Nin Novoa, expressing all-out support for the ROK government’s policy toward North Korea, made it clear that unless the North changes its attitude, Uruguay will neither establish diplomatic relations nor take any other measures to improve its relationship with the North.

° Minister Nin Novoa added that Uruguay will work closely with the ROK government for the UN to adopt additional resolutions on the nuclear and human rights issues of North Korea.

3. The two sides welcomed the initiation of preliminary talks on an ROK-Mercosur (Common Market of the South) trade agreement as a way to increase trade and investment between their two countries, and discussed how to step up cooperation on infrastructure and development as well as cultural exchanges.

° Minister Yun asked Uruguay, the host of the Mercosur Secretariat, to play an active role in the work to conclude an ROK-Mercosur trade agreement, and to support bids of Korean companies to take part in various infrastructure projects conducted by the Uruguayan government.

4. On the heels of their meeting, the two Ministers signed an ROK-Uruguay customs mutual assistance agreement as an institutional framework for cooperation between the customs agencies of the two countries.

° The two sides noted with appreciation that the agreement, together with the already-concluded bilateral Agreement for the Promotion and Protection of Investments, and Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income and Capital, will help increase economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.

5. Minister Yun invited Minister Nin Novoa to the foreign ministerial meeting of the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) to be held in 2017. Minister Nin Novoa accepted the invitation and citing the importance of high-level exchanges for the development of the ROK-Uruguay relations, invited Minister Yun to Uruguay.

6. The ROK-Uruguay meeting is seen to have served as an opportunity to win firmer support on the North Korean nuclear issue from Uruguay, a non-permanent member of the Security Council; to move forward discussions on the proposed trade agreement with Mercosur, the largest common market in Latin America; and to bolster cooperation on such international stages as FEALAC and the UN.


* unofficial translation