The Korean government will send a delegation of government officials, led by MOFAT's Deputy Minister Kim Jae-shin, to the International Conference in Support of Central America Security Strategy to be held in the Guatemalan capital of Guatemala City June 22-23. The delegation will be comprised of officials from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, National Police Agency and Korea International Cooperation Agency.
The agenda: the establishment of joint security strategies, a review of related projects, multilateral cooperation for tighter security, crime eradication and prevention, rehabilitation and strengthening of related institutions. Due to a rise in drug-related and organized crimes, the security situation in Central American countries has been worsening. According to recent analyses by the UN and the US, the security situation in the region is highly unstable, with five countries in the region recording the world's top five murder rates per 100,000 people.
Some 400 delegates from 40-odd countries, including the US, major EU countries (Spain, Germany and Italy), Canada, Japan, and Taiwan, and major international organizations, such as the UN, World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank and Organization of American States, are expected to come together to discuss the strategies of the countries in the region aimed to improve the regional security situation, and explore how the international community can support efforts to this end.
Korea, a country known to have achieved political, economic and social development after the end of World War II as well as a high level of security, plans to share such experience with Central American countries and take an active part in international efforts to realize public safety and universal values of humanity, such as democracy. Central America is a region of significance where some 25,000 Koreans reside and some 2,000 Korean businesses operate. On the occasion of the Conference, the Korean government plans to seek the safety of local Koreans in cooperation with the international community.