Vice Minister Choi Jong-geon: "Pacific Coastal Countries in Latin America Concerned About Japan's Contaminated Water"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] Choi Jong-geon, First Vice Foreign Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who visited three Latin American countries, stated on the 24th (local time) that "Pacific coastal countries in Latin America are recently sharing concerns over the Japanese government's decision to discharge contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant."

In an interview with the media in Mexico City, Mexico, the last stop of his visit, Vice Minister Choi said, "During the visit, I emphasized to the governments of various Latin American countries that 'the ocean is one, the Pacific is the largest well on Earth, and we are a community sharing the well.'"

Vice Minister Choi's visit, which included Colombia, Costa Rica, and Mexico, was aimed at seeking practical cooperation expansion after COVID-19 with Latin America, a strategically important region from the perspective of diplomatic diversification.

Since most of the eight Central American countries share the Pacific Ocean, Vice Minister Choi actively raised this issue.

Over six nights and nine days, in a total of eight bilateral meetings, he expressed concerns about the contaminated water and gained empathy from the counterpart countries.

At the Korea-Central America Integration System (SICA) Vice Foreign Ministers' Meeting, they achieved the inclusion of concerns about the contaminated water discharge decision, the necessity of joint international response, and plans to strengthen cooperation in the joint statement.

Vice Minister Choi said, "The Korea-SICA meeting, resumed after six years, became an opportunity for Central American countries to newly recognize their identity as Pacific coastal nations," adding, "Countries that thought the contaminated water discharge was someone else's problem became greatly worried about its impact on their own fisheries and others."

He added, "We acted faster than Japan and effectively established a kind of defensive line in Latin America."

Vice Minister Choi also said, "Last year, our country secured infrastructure projects worth $7.9 billion in Latin America, which is a 1000% increase in recent years," and mentioned that besides the infrastructure sector, there is great potential for cooperation between Korea and Latin America in eco-friendly and digital fields.

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