1. On the occasion of the 56th Munich Security Conference held in Munich, the Federal Republic of Germany, on February 14-15, Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang, Kyung-wha had bilateral meetings with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania Linas Linkevicius, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Finland Pekka Olavi Haavisto, and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway Ine Eriksen Søreide on February 14.
2. (Lithuania) The two Ministers expressed satisfaction with actively ongoing high-level exchanges and steadily growing trade and investment volumes between the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Lithuania, and discussed ways to promote substantive cooperation in such areas as cybersecurity, bioscience and information technology (IT), and national defense and the relevant industry.
° The two Ministers agreed to step up cooperation in Lithuania’s strong sectors, such as bioscience and IT, as well as on the international stage, including the United Nations (UN).
° Minister Linkevicius asked for the ROK side’s attention to the “Life Sciences Baltics” to take place in Lithuania in the second half of 2020 and explained the Lithuanian government’s efforts toward a peaceful resolution of the Ukrainian issue.
3. (Finland) The two Ministers noted with appreciation that the smooth progress in the follow-up on President Moon Jae-in’s state visit to Finland in June 2019 has helped deepen cooperative relations between the ROK and Finland in such areas as innovation and startups. They agreed to strengthen cooperation in responding to international issues, including climate change and building presence at international organizations.
° In particular, the two Ministers welcomed increasing substantive cooperation between the ROK and Finland, including Finnair’s launch of direct flights between Busan and Helsinki and the envisioned establishment of a “Korea startup center” in Helsinki in the first half of 2020 as major results of the state visit in 2019.
° In addition, Minister Kang mentioned that the ROK will host the 2nd Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 (P4G) Summit in June 2020, asking for the participation of the Finnish side. She also suggested that the ROK and Finland, a leading country in green growth, climate change and Arctic cooperation, work closely together in addressing global environmental issues.
4. (Norway) The two Ministers noted with appreciation that President Moon Jae-in’s state visit to Norway in 2019, the first of its kind by an ROK President, had served as an opportunity to further deepen the long-standing friendly relations between the two countries. On that note, they agreed to monitor the progress in the follow-up on the ROK-Norway summit talks and to bolster substantive cooperation in various fields, including the defense industry and Arctic affairs.
° In particular, Minister Kang asked Norway, a founding member of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) and a champion for green growth, to pay attention to and attend the 2nd P4G Summit to take place in the ROK in June 2020, and suggested that the two countries work closely together in responding to such global issues as climate and sustainable development.
5. Minister Kang also shared with the above Foreign
Ministers assessments of the situation on the Korean Peninsula and voiced hope
for close cooperation for permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula. The three European
Foreign Ministers reaffirmed their solidarity with and support for the ROK
government on its efforts toward the establishment of permanent peace on the
Korean Peninsula.