1) APEC Senior Officials' Meeting

The 1st Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) for 2008 was held in Lima, Peru, from March 2 to 3. 21 representatives from its member countries attended the meeting. Deputy Trade Minister Cho Tae-yul of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade headed the Korean delegation.

There were discussions on this year’s agenda items including regional economic integration such as the establishment of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), structural reform, economic and technical cooperation, reform of the APEC and the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The specifics for the APEC Summit Meeting to be held in Lima in November this year were agreed on.

The representatives of the member states of the APEC shared the understanding that Doha 　Development Agenda (DDA) should be settled at an early stage and reached an agreement on strengthening cooperative ties through diplomatic channels in Geneva so as to promote substantial progress in the Geneva Process.

During the discussion on structural reform, the Korean delegation explained how Korea overcame the financial crisis in 1997 and shared the lessons we learned from the process. With regard to the APEC Ministerial Meeting on Structural Reform slated for August 2008 in Melbourne, Australia, the Korean delegation also expressed the willingness to share the experiences of Korea’s structural reform. It also drew attention from the regional players on the new administration’s policies to ease regulations over companies, stressing its focus on creating a business-friendly environment.

During the 1st APEC Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM), the review sessions of Individual Action Plan (IAP) for the United States, Canada and Peru were carried out. The Korean delegation presented the concerns of domestic industries of Korea on the trade environment of the three countries and discussed how to address them. The delegation also enhanced its status in the APEC by presiding the review session of IAP for the United Sates.

2) ASEM Senior Officials' Meeting

The Korean government dispatched a delegation headed by Deputy Director-General for European Affairs, Baik Joo-hyeon, to the ASEM Senior Officials' Meeting(SOM). The Meeting was held in Slovenia from March 2 to 3 in order to prepare for the 7th ASEM summit meeting slated for October 24 to 25 in Beijing. The participants of the Meeting discussed items on the agenda for the ASEM summit meeting, including strengthening of multilateral diplomacy and the promotion of peace and security, and strengthening of multilateral trade regime.

As a founding member state and the host of the 3rd ASEM summit meeting in October 2000, the Republic of Korea has been acting as a leading country for the development of the ASEM process ever since the 1st ASEM summit meeting in 1996. Korea has proposed a total of 9 projects including narrowing down the digital divide and strengthening cyber security, among others.