Minister Kang Kyung-wha to Attend 'Munich Security Conference', Departing on 13th... Plans for Talks with Pompeo and Motegi

Attended MSC Main Session and Delivered Keynote Speech... First Korean Foreign Minister
Interest in Korea-US-Japan Foreign Ministers Meeting

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha will depart on the 13th to attend the 'Munich Security Conference (MSC)' held in Munich, Germany from the 14th to 16th (local time). The MSC is an international event where high-ranking officials responsible for foreign and security affairs from various countries gather to exchange views, with about 350 participants from 70 countries invited annually.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Minister Kang plans to participate as a panelist in the MSC main session held on the 14th (local time) to explain South Korea's diplomatic policy stance related to efforts to strengthen multilateralism in the international community. This is the first time a South Korean foreign minister has attended the MSC main session and delivered a keynote speech alongside key figures.

Through this keynote speech, Minister Kang is expected to express her views on strengthening multilateral diplomacy, the main theme of the session, and speak about inter-Korean cooperation projects, which the South Korean government has been accelerating this year as part of the peace process on the Korean Peninsula. She will likely request support from foreign and security high-ranking officials from various countries for resolving the Korean Peninsula issue.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Kim In-cheol explained, "Minister Kang will hold numerous bilateral meetings with other ministers and high-ranking officials to discuss the development of bilateral relations, evaluate high-level exchanges, strengthen practical cooperation including climate issues such as the 2nd Green Growth and Global Goals 2030 Partnership (P4G) Summit, and exchange views on the situation on the Korean Peninsula, key regional affairs, and cooperation on the international stage."

There is also interest in whether bilateral talks with the U.S. and Japanese foreign ministers will be arranged. Minister Kang is pushing for a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, whom she met last month in San Francisco. Additionally, it is reported that she may hold talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu. If these meetings take place, it will be the first direct dialogue since the trilateral ministerial meeting held in San Francisco last month.

Minister Kang is expected to focus on conveying the necessity of inter-Korean cooperation projects emphasized by President Moon Jae-in in his New Year's address during her meeting with Secretary Pompeo. These include ▲ the resumption of the Kaesong Industrial Complex and Mount Kumgang tourism ▲ cooperation in border areas ▲ joint entry and unified team formation for the Tokyo Olympics ▲ inter-Korean railway and road connection projects ▲ joint UNESCO World Heritage registration of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). A Foreign Ministry official stated, "If a meeting with the U.S. takes place, matters related to the Korean Peninsula will naturally be discussed."

Prior to the MSC, Alex Wong, U.S. State Department Deputy Special Representative for North Korea and Deputy Assistant Secretary, visited Korea on the 10th and 11th and held broad discussions with Lee Dong-ryeol, Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Peace Diplomacy Planning Division, and Lee Moon-hee, Director of the North Korea Nuclear Diplomacy Planning Division, regarding inter-Korean cooperation projects such as individual tourism to North Korea. Deputy Representative Wong is scheduled to attend the MSC after concluding U.S.-Russia deputy representative consultations in Russia.

There is also interest in whether discussions will continue on the Special Measures Agreement (SMA) on defense cost-sharing between South Korea and the U.S., which has not yet scheduled additional negotiation sessions in bilateral talks with Secretary Pompeo. The two countries held the sixth round of negotiations in the U.S. last month amid a lapse in the agreement but parted ways without narrowing their differences. Issues such as unpaid leave for Korean workers at U.S. Forces Korea have come to the forefront, and both countries face limited time to achieve visible results by this month at the latest.

It is also reported that dialogue between South Korean and Japanese foreign ministers is being pursued. While both countries agree on resolving issues through dialogue, they have yet to find solutions to the sharply conflicting issues of forced labor and export restrictions. It is known that there was no progress at the recent South Korea-Japan director-general level foreign affairs meeting held in Korea. The South Korean government judges that the Japanese government’s efforts to withdraw export restrictions unilaterally imposed on South Korea in July last year are insufficient. On the other hand, the Japanese government maintains that the forced labor issue was already resolved by the 1965 Korea-Japan Claims Agreement and insists that the South Korean Supreme Court's rulings violate international law.

Meanwhile, Minister Kang is expected to return on the 16th after completing bilateral meetings with European countries such as Denmark, Norway, and Finland ahead of the 2nd P4G Summit scheduled for June.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.