ForumSec, SUVA, Friday 24th March 2023 -- Senior officials from the Pacific Islands Forum met with their counterparts from the Government of the Republic of Korea to prepare for the inaugural Korea-Pacific Islands Leaders’ Summit. The inaugural Korea-Pacific Islands Summit will be held in Seoul, Korea in May 2023.
At the 7th Korea-Pacific Islands Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM), held on 24 March in Nadi, Forum Member officials took the opportunity to highlight key priorities to strengthen engagement and cooperation on areas of mutual interest including climate change and disaster risk and resilience; ocean governance, maritime affairs, and fisheries; and people-to-people exchange; sustainable economic development and the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent.
The meeting, co-chaired by H.E. Young-Sam Choi, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea, and Ms Tepaeru Herrmann, Secretary Foreign Affairs and Immigration, Cook Islands also discussed arrangements for the inaugural Korea-Pacific Islands Summit.
”Our meeting today is an opportunity to strengthen our collaboration and understanding on common priorities and issues of importance to our region and indeed, our world,” said Secretary Herrmann in her opening comments, “Together, we can lay the groundwork for a successful Korea-Pacific Islands Leaders’ Summit this May which delivers outcomes and actions for an effective partnership that ultimately builds the resilience, sustainability, peace and prosperity of our region”.
In 2011, the Korea and 14 Pacific Island Forum members established a dialogue mechanism through a triennial Korea-Pacific Islands Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. Their most recent meeting - the 5th - was held in October 2022 in Busan, Korea.
A key commitment from the 5th ministerial meeting was an agreement to invite all Forum Members to the Korea – Pacific Islands dialogue mechanisms going forward, including for the first Korea – Pacific Islands Summit scheduled to be held in May 2023.
Korea has been a Forum Dialogue Partner since 1995. --ENDS
Image: Supporting a vision of peace and prosperity for all --Pacific Forum Foreign Ministers at their last meeting with Korea in 2022.
