1. An interagency delegation of government officials and experts dispatched by the Foreign Ministry
is visiting Peru, Venezuela and Panama on December 4-11. The delegation aims at strengthening
cooperation with the Latin American middle powers in a future-oriented manner by sharing the
Republic of Korea’s development experience and seeking out new promising areas of cooperation,
including e-government, education, science, technology and the knowledge sharing program.
° The delegation is holding a cooperation forum with each of its host countries.
° The delegation, led by MOFAT’s Director-General for Latin American and Caribbean Affairs Jang
Keun-ho, consists of officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Ministry of Public
Administration and Security, and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology as well as
experts from the Korea Development Institute and the Korea Foundation.
2. In Peru, the first destionation of its tour, the delegation held a ROK-Peru Cooperation Forum
on December 5 with some 40 relevant officials from Peru’s Foreign Ministry, Proinversion, National
Center for Strategic Planning (CEPLAN), and International Cooperation Agency (APCI). In the Forum,
the participants exchanged views on matters of mutual concern, including e-government, education,
science, technology, the knowledge sharing program, and ways to boost investment in Peru.
° The Peruvian side voiced a strong expectation for the ROK to share its experience in economic
development; to seek out cooperation agenda in science and technology with Peru (e.g., bilateral
think tank, exchanges between colleges, invitation programs for master’s and doctoral students);
and to support Peru’s human resource development.
3. The ROK and Peru have lately been enjoying the strongest-ever cooperation, as can be seen by the
effectuation of the bilateral FTA on August 1, the bilateral summit on September 22 on the sidelines of
the UN General Assembly, the bilateral Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on November 12 on the sidelines
of the APEC Summit, and the conclusion of the bilateral Aviation Agreement on November 12. The
delegation’s visit, which took place amid such a cooperative trend, is seen to have served as a good
opportunity to broaden the scope of bilateral cooperation to include numerous, high-potential areas,
and to explore ways to attain tangible achievements.
Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFAT
* unofficial translation