Press Briefing

Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Affairs Soosuk Lim

July 11, 2024  14:30  KST

Good afternoon. Let me start today’s briefing.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul will have a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of New Zealand Winston Peters in Seoul on July 15.

New Zealand is Korea’s traditional friend that fought alongside the latter in the Korean War prior to the establishment of diplomatic relations between them, as well as a value-sharing like-minded country of the latter in the Indo-Pacific region.

The upcoming meeting will follow the Korea-Japan-Australia-New Zealand leaders’ meeting to take place later today, July 11, on the sidelines of the ongoing North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit.

The two Foreign Ministers will explore ways to promote substantive cooperation between the two countries and exchange views on the situations on the Korean Peninsula and in the Indo-Pacific region, among others.

Moving on, on July 16, Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul will meet with Deputy Administrator of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Pam Melroy, who will visit Korea for the 45th Scientific Assembly of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR 2024).

Foreign Minister Cho and Deputy Administrator Melroy will discuss ways to deepen Korea-U.S. space cooperation including the private sector’s space initiatives and the Artemis program, a manned moon exploration initiative led by NASA.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to carry out all-out space diplomacy that encompasses national security as well as private and business sectors, in line with the government-wide efforts to enhance space capabilities.

(A question-and-answer session followed.)