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Outcome of the 1st Korea-Mekong Foreign Ministers’ Meeting |
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Foreign Minister Kim Sung-Hwan and his counterparts from five countries in the Mekong region held the 1st Korea-Mekong Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Seoul on October 27 and 28, and adopted the Han-River Declaration as a result of the Meeting.
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[The main content of the Han-River Declaration]
- Objectives: Deepen the ASEAN-ROK strategic partnership and contribute to
sustainable development of the Mekong region
- Principles: Develop bilateral ties in an open, transparent and inclusive manner; pursue
bilateral ties in a mutually beneficial way; and reinforce and complement other bilateral
cooperation mechanisms such as the Mekong-Japan cooperation
- Priority areas in development cooperation: Infrastructure, and information and
communications technology; forestry and environment; human resource development;
agriculture; and water resource development.
* The five countries in the Mekong region are Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and
Thailand. |
In the meeting, the Foreign Ministers exchanged in-depth views on ways for Korea and the Mekong region to work more closely together in economy and development, as well as in government affairs, including those related with disaster management, international crimes, and non-proliferation. Also, they selected six priority areas for cooperation with a view to enhancing the bilateral efficiency of development cooperation, and agreed to set up specific plans for focused cooperation in these areas. Furthermore, the Ministers concurred to hold this Meeting on an annual basis in the rotational ASEAN chair country, and in Korea every three years.
Taking note of the Mekong region's great growth potential, Minister Kim highlighted the Korean government’s plan to increase support for the region’s development and work closely with the region toward co-prosperity and co-growth.
The Korea-Mekong Foreign Ministers' Meeting, the first ministerial-level meeting between Korea and the Mekong region, is expected to serve as a sub-regional consultative body that bridges the bilateral relationship between Korea and each of the five countries with that between Korea and ASEAN.
On the sidelines of the Meeting, Minister Kim met bilaterally with each of his counterparts to exchange views on matters of mutual concern, including cooperation in government affairs, economy and trade as well as at regional and global organizations. |
 
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