1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs held the 9th Republic of Korea-Romania policy consultation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Seoul, on September 17. In the meeting, the two sides exchanged a wide range of views on cooperation on political affairs, including high-level exchanges; substantive cooperation on trade, investment, information and communications technology (ICT), infrastructure and energy; cooperation on the international stage; and situations in diverse regions of the world.

° The ROK and Romanian head delegates to the meeting were Director-General for European Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Jung Ki-hong and General Director of the Office of Global Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Radu Gabriel Safta, respectively.

2. The two sides noted with appreciation that the two countries, which have shared such universal values as democracy and market economy since forging diplomatic relations in 1990, had upgraded their relations to strategic partnership in 2008. With the year 2018 marking the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the strategic partnership, they agreed to enhance friendship and cooperation, including by boosting high-level exchanges.

※ The Joint Declaration on the Establishment of the Bilateral Strategic Partnership between the ROK and Romania was adopted in September 2008 during the visit to the ROK by then Romanian President Basescu.

3. The two sides shared the view that given the economic potential of Romania demonstrated by its 2nd-largest economic growth among the EU member states, the two countries have a great possibility for growth in bilateral trade and investment. On that note, they agreed to fulfill that possibility through trade diversification efforts, among others.

° Director-General Jung, taking note of the robust bilateral cooperation in the fields of science,  technology and ICT, asked the Romanian government to support bids of Korean enterprises with abundant experiences and technology to expand their presence in its various projects, including those for transportation and infrastructure development and the modernization of nuclear power plants.

° General Director Safta voiced hope that Korean companies, especially conglomerates, will continue their investment in Romania to make use of the country’s convenient geographical location and quality workforce; and that cooperation will increase in such promising sectors as energy and ICT.

4. The two sides, both recognizing the importance of bilateral people-to-people and cultural exchanges, a basis for future cooperation, agreed to seek an early conclusion of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for exchanges and cooperation on education and culture as an institutional framework for such exchanges. In a similar vein, they also agreed to boost academic exchanges.

5. Director-General Jung shared with his Romanian counterpart recent progress in inter-Korean relations, adding that the third round of inter-Korean summit talks to come later in the week is expected to create a milestone toward the denuclearization and the establishment of peace on the Korean Peninsula. General Director Safta commended and expressed strong support for the ROK government’s efforts to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula.

* unofficial translation