1. The Republic of Korea and Portugal held the fourth meeting of their Joint Economic Commission in Seoul on November 1 to review the progress in their bilateral economic cooperation and discuss ways to broaden the scope of cooperation to include joint entries into third countries, among others.

° The ROK and Portuguese head delegates to the meetings were Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Affairs Lee Tae-ho and Secretary of State of Internationalization Jorge Costa Oliveira of the Foreign Ministry, respectively.

2. In the first meeting of the Joint Economic Commission since the bilateral summit talks held in Seoul in July 2014, the two sides agreed to work more closely together on trade, investment, science, technology, aviation, new and renewable energy, culture, tourism and people-to-people exchanges.

3. Ahead of the meeting. First Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam met with Secretary of State Oliveira, during which the Vice Minister extended congratulations to Portugal on the election of António Guterres as next UN Secretary-General, and stated that the ROK government will work closely with the Portuguese government for the incoming UN Secretary-General to successfully carry out his mission.

° With regard to the current security situation in Northeast Asia in the wake of North Korea’s recent nuclear test, Vice Minister Lim extended appreciation to the Portuguese government for its strong support for the ROK’s efforts to pressure the North. The two sides agreed to remain in close coordination on the issue.


* unofficial translation