14 Pacific Island Leaders Attending Korea-Pacific Islands Summit, High-Level Officials Visit Busan

Mayor Park Hyung-jun Hosts Welcome Luncheon - 2023 Marine and Fisheries International Conference - Inspection of Bukhang Port

Discussion on Climate Crisis Joint Response, Marine and Fisheries Sector, Tourism, and Human Exchange

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On the 30th, Busan City announced that the heads of state and high-ranking officials from 14 Pacific Island countries attending the ‘Korea-Pacific Island Countries Summit’ will visit Busan.

Busan City Hall.

The 14 visiting countries are the Cook Islands, Nauru, Niue, New Zealand, Marshall Islands, Vanuatu, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Tuvalu, French Polynesia, and New Caledonia.

This visit to Busan is taking place in conjunction with the ‘Korea-Pacific Island Countries Summit’ and the ‘2023 International Maritime and Fisheries Conference,’ which were first organized by the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, expanding the global diplomatic horizon.

The summit was held over two days from May 29 to 30 in Seoul, attended by the heads of state and ministers of the 14 Pacific Island countries, including the chair country, the Cook Islands, as well as the Secretary-General of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).

The key dignitaries visiting Busan include ▲Mark Brown, Prime Minister of the Cook Islands ▲Dalton Tagelagi, Prime Minister of Niue ▲Surangel S. Whipps Jr, Prime Minister of Palau ▲James Marape, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea ▲David Kabua, President of the Marshall Islands ▲Manasseh Sogavare, Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands ▲Kausea Natano, Prime Minister of Tuvalu ▲Ishmael Kalsakau, Prime Minister of Vanuatu ▲Moetai Brotherson, President of French Polynesia ▲Louis Mapou, President of New Caledonia ▲Nanaia Mahuta, Minister of Foreign Affairs of New Zealand ▲Toeolesulusulu Cedric Schuster, Minister of Environment of Samoa ▲Viliami Latu, Minister of Economy and Trade of Tonga ▲Henry Puna, Secretary-General of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), along with many other heads of state and key ministers.

They will arrive at Busan Station by a dedicated train at 11:45 a.m. and then move to Signiel Busan to attend a welcome luncheon hosted by Mayor Park Hyung-jun.

The event will proceed with Mayor Park’s welcome speech, a response from Cook Islands Prime Minister Brown, toasts by An Seong-min, Chair of the City Council, and Jang In-hwa, Chair of the Chamber of Commerce, among others. Many leading companies representing Busan are also expected to attend and enhance the occasion.

At the luncheon, Mayor Park will mention the long-standing friendly relations between Korea and the Pacific Island countries, emphasizing the need to jointly address common challenges such as the climate crisis and marine pollution. He plans to explore concrete and practical cooperation measures with the Pacific Island representatives in various fields including joint climate crisis response, marine sector cooperation, human exchanges, development cooperation, and tourism collaboration.

The Pacific Island countries are directly exposed to damages caused by sea-level rise and marine environmental pollution due to climate change. As a country surrounded by the sea on three sides, especially as a maritime city, Busan is expected to have close cooperation possibilities with these countries.

Following the welcome luncheon, Mayor Park and the Pacific Island heads of state will attend the opening ceremony of the ‘2023 International Maritime and Fisheries Conference’ held at the same venue.

Under the theme ‘Cooperation for a Better Future of Pacific Island Countries,’ the event will be attended by Mayor Park, the Pacific Island heads of state, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Cho Seung-hwan, officials from government and related maritime and fisheries organizations. They will discuss maritime and fisheries cooperation projects such as climate crisis response, fisheries development, and marine environment conservation for the sustainable development of the Pacific Island countries.

In his congratulatory speech, Mayor Park will once again welcome the visit to Busan, stating that the sea is the origin of humanity and the future leading the new international order, and that protecting the Pacific is equivalent to safeguarding a sustainable Earth.

In particular, Mayor Park will emphasize cooperation on various topics including overcoming the climate crisis through maritime means, advancement and sharing of cutting-edge marine science and technology, fisheries development, marine environment conservation, and nurturing maritime and fisheries leaders.

After the opening ceremony of the International Maritime and Fisheries Conference, the heads of state will visit Bukhang as their final schedule. They will tour the Bukhang redevelopment site to observe the transformation of Bukhang, which led Busan’s rapid growth, and learn about the true nature of Busan Port, the world’s second-largest transshipment port and seventh-largest container port. Through this, they aim to discover more cooperative projects with the Pacific Island countries.

Mayor Park Hyung-jun said, “Taking this opportunity of the Pacific Island heads of state visiting Busan, we plan to establish practical and concrete cooperation measures with these countries in various fields such as joint response to climate change, marine environment conservation, fisheries development, nurturing maritime and fisheries leaders, human exchanges, and tourism.” He added, “Through this, we expect Busan’s international cooperation network (global network) to be further expanded.”

After completing their final schedule visiting Bukhang, the heads of state will depart for Seoul at 4:30 p.m. on the 30th.

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