Premier Dalton Tagelagi is currently attending the inaugural Korea and Pacific Islands Summit 2023 in Seoul, South Korea which began yesterday and will conclude today.
In the event of the summit, Premier Tagelagi and Republic of Korea’s Foreign Affairs Minister Hon. Park Jin was able to sign a joint communique establishing formal diplomatic relations with South Korea.
According to a government press release, Niue is the 192nd country to establish diplomatic ties with South Korea and is the last Pacific Island Forum member to establish formal relations.
In the press statement, Premier Tagelagi welcomed the establishment of diplomatic ties with Korea and is looking forward to strengthening the relationship between the two countries.
“Korea is a long-time friend of Niue and is a country that understands the challenges faced in the Pacific and aligns itself with priorities of the Blue Pacific Continent,” says Premier Tagelagi.
South Korea is the 21st country to establish diplomatic relations with Niue.
The Korea-Pacific Islands Summit was chaired by the Republic of Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeoul and the Cook Islands Prime Minister and Pacific Islands Forum Chair Hon. Mark Brown.
The theme for the summit is “Navigating towards Co-Prosperity: Strengthening Cooperation with the Blue Pacific.”
Areas discussed in the meeting included sustainable development, climate change, environment, disaster risk, resilience, oceans, maritime affairs and fisheries, people to people exchanges and other matters of mutual interest.
During his Statement, Premier Tagelagi recognised the strong history of partnership between Korea and the Pacific. He also noted the strength of the Pacific as a collective unit, drawing attention to areas of mutual interest, particularly climate change.
“Climate change remains the biggest threat to the Blue Pacific Continent. I call on multilateral climate funds to ensure simplified access to climate change finance to allow better access by the most vulnerable countries. In other words, keep it simple. Equally important is the need to ensure that climate finance is sustainable, timely, and predictable.”
This is the first summit held between Korea and the Pacific Island nations. A step forward in strengthening ties between Pacific Island countries and Korea.