S. Korea, Pacific Alliance to hold cooperation forum

SEOUL, Dec. 11 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will hold a forum with the Pacific Alliance (PA), a Latin American trade bloc, in the capital of Peru on Tuesday to explore new areas of sustainable cooperation, Seoul's foreign ministry said.

The forum in Lima will bring together some 60 people, including officials and experts from the four PA member states -- Chile, Colombia, Peru and Mexico -- as well as from Seoul's foreign ministry, the Korea International Cooperation Agency and other institutions.

Launched in 2011, PA is a group of four countries that collectively account for 35 percent of Latin America's gross domestic product and 50 percent of its trade. South Korea is among the alliance's 55 observer states.

"At this forum, South Korea and the PA will discuss the current status of development cooperation and a direction for that, and priority areas of cooperation, and there will be presentations and discussions on ways to establish a model for bilateral sustainable cooperation," the ministry said in a press release.

Since joining the PA as an observer in 2013, South Korea has continuously participated in the alliance's high-level talks.

sshluck@yna.co.kr
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