1. A five-member delegation from the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security (IFANS), including its President Shin Bong-kil and professor In Nam-sik, will visit Saudi Arabia on March 16 and 17. During the visit to the country, the group, together with the Saudi Institute of Diplomatic Studies, will hold a closed-door academic conference in Riyadh and visit the Gulf Cooperation Council and other Gulf- and Islam-related cooperative organizations in the region.

2. On the sidelines of the conference, the delegation will meet with the Secretary-General of the Riyadh-based GCC as well as the Secretary-General of the Jeddah-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). On the occasions, the two sides will exchange views on the governance mechanism for regional cooperation in the Islamic community and discuss its implications for the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia. Also on the agenda will be the Islamic community’s position on the recent spread of violent extremism by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and Al-Qaeda, as well as its specific strategy for curbing it; and ways to work with the Korea Muslim Federation.

3. During their visit to Saudi Arabia, the delegates from IFANS will seek to boost exchanges of information and build a cooperative network with regard to the situation in the Middle East, including violent extremism; to step up cooperation between the think tanks of the two countries; and thereby to contribute to consolidate the momentum of cooperation created during President Park Geun-hye’s visit to Saudi Arabia. They are also expected to play a role in building a bilateral cooperative system for diplomatic education and training. 


                 Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

* unofficial translation