1. On July 13, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se met with former President Eduardo Alfredo Frei of Chile, who was on a visit to the Republic of Korea, and exchanged views with him on ways to move the ROK-Chile relations forward in a future-oriented manner.

2. The two sides shared the view that their two countries are seeing their cooperative relations consolidated across the board, including political affairs, economy and trade, and on the international stage. They agreed to further enhance the comprehensive cooperative partnership between the two countries.

° In particular, they noted with appreciation that President Park Geun-hye’s state visit to Chile in April 2015 had helped pave the way for closer substantive cooperation in a wider range of fields, including startups, healthcare, medical service, defense industry, science, technology (regarding the Arctic and astronomy), and information and communications. They agreed to continue efforts to see tangible results in the fields as soon as possible.

3. The two sides, taking note of the great contribution of their bilateral FTA in force since 2004 to advances in the bilateral ties, discussed ways to further step up cooperation on economy and trade.

° Former President Frei voiced hope to see bilateral economic cooperation further increase with the changes in the trade environment since the conclusion of the bilateral FTA factored in. He also expressed interest in the possible cooperation under the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

° Minister Yun asked for the Chilean government’s attention to and support for bids of Korean companies to expand their presence in projects to build such infrastructure as bridges and tunnels as well as new and renewable energy projects in Chile.

4. Minister Yun spoke about the plan of the ROK, the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC)’s Regional Coordinator of East Asia in 2017, to host the eighth FEALAC Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Seoul and voiced hope for closer cooperation at regional cooperative mechanisms.

5. Minister Yun extended appreciation to Chile, the ROK’s long-standing ally and the first Latin American that had endorsed the government of the Republic of Korea, for its close cooperation with the ROK with regard to the serial provocations by North Korea, including its fourth nuclear test and launches of intermediate- and long-range missiles. He asked the Chilean government to continue taking part in international collaboration efforts against North Korea.

° In response, former President Frei reaffirmed the Chilean government’s firm support for the ROK government’s policy toward North Korea.


* unofficial translation