President Moon Jae-in and President of Latvia Raimonds Vejonis held a summit at Cheong Wa Dae today. The two Presidents discussed ways to increase trade and investment and to work together on North Korea policy.

President Moon began by noting that his visit to Korea is the first by a Latvian President since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1991, expressing the hope that bilateral ties would be further advanced in the years to come.

Thanking President Moon for his warm hospitality, President Vejonis proposed that the two countries work together, taking his visit this time as a catalyst, to boost bilateral relations focusing on cooperation in trade and investment. 

The two heads of state welcomed an agreement first proposed by Latvia to launch a joint economic committee involving Korea and the three Baltic nations—Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania—within this year. The two leaders agreed to seek out substantive, cooperative measures on various fronts through this committee.

President Vejonis said the PyeongChang Winter Olympics had become a peace Olympics thanks to President Moon’s endeavors. He highlighted that the visit to Seoul by 1st Vice Director Kim Yo-jong of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of North Korea as a special envoy was especially significant, adding his evaluation that it was a message from the North to the entire world.

In response, President Moon said the United States was looking at inter-Korean talks in a positive light and expressed its willingness for a dialogue with the North. Then, the President asked for continued support from Latvia so that the inter-Korean talks could lead to a dialogue between the United States and North Korea. 

Prior to the summit, President Moon held bilateral summits with Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid on February 6 and Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė on February 7. As a result, the President has successfully concluded summit diplomacy with the three Baltic Nations for the first time since Korea entered into diplomatic relations with the three countries in 1991. 

Present at the meeting from the Latvian side were Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Economics Arvils Aseradens; Minister of Foreign Affairs Edgars Rinkevics; Latvian Ambassador to Korea Peteris Vaivars;  Deputy Head of the Chancery Egita Kazeka, Foreign Affairs Adviser to the President Maija Manika and Under-Secretary of State and Political Director Andris Pelss. On the Korean side were Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Kyung-hwa; Second Deputy Director of National Security Nam Gwan-pyo; Senior Secretary to the President for Social Policy Kim Soo-hyun; Secretary to the President for Foreign Policy Shin Chae-hyun, and Secretary to the President for Trade Lee Tae-ho.