Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said South Korea "will continue efforts to resume dialogue with North Korea with patience, for the sake of peaceful coexistence and shared growth on the Korean Peninsula."
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cho attended the East Asia Summit (EAS) Foreign Ministers' Meeting held in Manila, the Philippines, on the 23rd, where he requested the continued interest and cooperation of EAS member states in resolving Korean Peninsula issues through dialogue and diplomacy.
The EAS is a summit-level strategic consultative body comprising the 10 ASEAN member states along with South Korea, the United States, China, Japan, Russia, India, Australia and New Zealand. At the meeting, major political and security issues in the region were broadly discussed, including the Korean Peninsula, the South China Sea, Myanmar and the Middle East.
Participating countries expressed concern over North Korea's continued development of nuclear weapons and missiles, and shared the view on the need to resolve Korean Peninsula issues through dialogue and diplomacy. Regarding the South China Sea issue, Cho reaffirmed the South Korean government's position, saying that "freedom of navigation and overflight must be guaranteed in the South China Sea, a key route for international maritime traffic, and a maritime order based on international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), must be observed."
He then praised the efforts of the countries concerned to conclude the Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea, stressing that a code of conduct consistent with international law and not infringing on the rights of third countries must be established. A significant number of participating countries also mentioned the importance of maintaining peace, stability and safety in the South China Sea.
Regarding the recent escalation of tensions surrounding the Strait of Hormuz, Cho said that free and safe navigation of vessels must be guaranteed in all international waters.
On the Myanmar issue, he expressed support for resolution efforts based on ASEAN's Five-Point Consensus (5PC), and explained that the South Korean government is also actively participating in improving the humanitarian situation.
