First Dinner Event Inviting All 166 Former Heads of Overseas Diplomatic Missions
President Yoon Suk-yeol expressed his intention on the 27th to revive the Korea-China-Japan trilateral summit and work together for regional peace and development.
President Yoon made these remarks during a dinner held at the Blue House State Guest House, where he invited heads of overseas diplomatic missions, according to a written briefing by presidential spokesperson Lee Do-woon.
The Korea-China-Japan summit has been held a total of eight times since its first meeting in December 2008.
The last meeting was held in December 2019 in Chengdu, China, but it has not been held since due to Korea-Japan conflicts over forced labor compensation rulings and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As Korea is currently the rotating chair country of the trilateral summit, this signals an intention to resume the meeting possibly within this year.
This dinner was the first event since the new government took office where President Yoon invited all heads of overseas diplomatic missions. About 200 people attended, including 166 ambassadors, consuls general, and nominees, ministers from related ministries, presidential office aides, Kim Tae-ho, chairman of the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, and special envoys.
President Yoon said, "Now is the time for the Republic of Korea to concentrate all diplomatic capabilities to find a breakthrough to overcome complex crises," adding, "When countries that share universal values such as freedom, rule of law, and human rights unite, they can uphold an international order based on rules."
He continued, "Please carry out the role of an advanced export base with the mindset of being Korea’s representative salesperson," and urged, "Let us pool wisdom so that all diplomatic efforts, including summit diplomacy, can lead to concrete and practical national interests."
He also requested that all overseas diplomatic missions do their best to support the bid for the 2030 Busan World Expo.
Furthermore, President Yoon stated, "As beneficiaries of an international order based on freedom and the rule of law, we must actively fulfill the expectations of the international community," and ordered a significant expansion of the scale of Official Development Assistance (ODA), as well as broadening the scope of development cooperation to include human resource development, joint technology development, and joint overseas market entry.
According to spokesperson Lee, after the dinner, there were presentations on field activities by representatives of economic, security, and consular missions.
The heads of overseas diplomatic missions gathered on this day as they returned to Korea to attend the 2023 Overseas Diplomatic Missions Meeting, held from the 27th to the 31st.
This face-to-face meeting, held for the first time in five years, will focus on "sales diplomacy" to expand global exports, based on the government’s national goal of "realizing a global pivotal state contributing to freedom, peace, and prosperity."
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