Seoul, Jan 20 (IANS) South Korea’s Foreign Minister Cho Hyun will visit Turkey and Belgium later this week for bilateral talks with each country and a strategic dialogue with the European Union, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
His four-day trip will begin in Turkey, where he is scheduled to hold talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Wednesday (local time), the ministry said.
The upcoming talks come as a follow-up step after President Lee Jae Myung’s state visit to the country in November last year, deputy ministry spokesperson Lee Moon-bae said in a press briefing, Yonhap News Agency reported.
“(The ministers) will discuss the progress in key bilateral projects, including nuclear energy, the defence industry, bio and infrastructure,” Lee said.
Cho will then travel to Belgium and hold the second strategic security dialogue with Kaja Kallas, the EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, on Thursday.
South Korea and the EU elevated ties to a “strategic partnership” in 2010 to deepen cooperation from security, defense and the economy to trade and science and technologies. The two sides launched the strategic dialogue in late 2024.
“The two ministers will have broad discussions on the South Korea-EU relations and exchange opinions on regional issues, including the Korean Peninsula and the war in Ukraine,” Lee added.
While in Brussels, Cho also plans to hold bilateral talks with David Clarinval, Belgium’s deputy prime minister and minister of labour, economy and agriculture.
On January 2, South Korea’s Foreign Minister Cho Hyun vowed to revamp diplomatic missions overseas in a way that will boost their operational efficiency, as part of efforts to expand and diversify South Korea’s foreign policy amid a shifting international landscape.
Cho made the remarks in a New Year message to foreign ministry officials, signalling plans to streamline the missions deemed less efficient while reinforcing the functions of those stationed in key regions.
“For missions that show limited effectiveness, we will carry out efficient restructuring and reinforce core functions by focusing them on key missions,” Cho said in his speech.
His remarks followed media reports that the ministry scrapped plans to open new embassies in several countries after President Lee Jae Myung questioned the need for the expansion, reversing an initiative pushed for by the former Yoon Suk Yeol government.
Cho called for overseas missions to better coordinate with South Korean public entities operating abroad to ensure the collaboration will produce outcomes benefiting Korean nationals and companies based in the countries.
“We will introduce measures to systematically manage performance and service, such as by reinforcing the authority of heads of overseas missions to better oversee locally operating public institutions and selecting officials capable (of overseas assignments),” he said.
Cho also pledged to lead the ministry to pursue more summit diplomacy and widen the “economic horizons” of foreign policy.
“It has become more important than ever to explore and further expand new economic horizons,” he said. “We will strive to promote diplomacy that improves people’s livelihoods and revitalises businesses.”
“Looking ahead, we will step up summit-level diplomacy and actively engage in diplomacy with key regions to diversify our diplomatic outreach,” Cho said.
–IANS
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