1. The third Senior-Level Meeting of the Global Consular Forum (GCF III) came to an end on October 27 after three days of discussions on various global consular issues.

° At GCF III, government delegates from 33 countries shared with one another their respective policy experiences with common consular matters and discussed the possibility of building a system for consular cooperation.

° On the first day of the meeting, 19 non-governmental stakeholders attended the meeting for the first time, helping broaden the horizon of the private-government cooperation on consular affairs.

2. The 33 participating countries unanimously adopted as the outcome document of the meeting the “Seoul Consensus Statement on Consular Cooperation,” which marks the first international agreement on new, global consular issues since the entry into force in 1967 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

° The outcome document reflects the commitment of the member states, in the face of consular challenges, to share with one another model practices in consular services and crisis responses and to work more closely together on consular affairs.

° The outcome document stipulates that the Republic of Korea will host the GCF Cyber Secretariat, allowing the ROK to lead discussions on main agenda items related to consular affairs by facilitating consultations among GCF members in cyber space, and thereby to contribute to the international community.


* unofficial translation