Goff to South Korea, Hong Kong Nov 7-15
Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff leaves tomorrow to visit South Korea, attending the Community of Democracies
conference there, and a visit to Hong Kong.
“The visit to Seoul is an opportunity to meet with Korean Ministers and focus on current developments in inter-Korean
relations and regional security issues such as the recent revelation by North Korea about its nuclear weapons programme.
“This issue is of serious concern to New Zealand and South Korea along with the other eleven members of the Korean
Peninsula Energy Development Organisation (KEDO).
“New Zealand has made it clear that no further payments will be made to KEDO unless North Korea complies with its
obligations in regard to non-proliferation.
“Next week in Seoul I will attend the second Ministerial Conference of the Communities of Democracy. The conference aims
to assist emerging democracies by identifying best practices and forming an agenda for international cooperation.
“New Zealand is one of 111 countries attending including the United States, South Korea, Australia and France. The
Community grew from a US initiative and met for the first time in Warsaw in 2000. Represented by Secretary of State
Colin Powell, the US will once again play a leading role in this second meeting
“I will be participating in a Roundtable discussion on consolidating democratic institutions. I will outline fundamental
changes in the past decade to democratic institutions in New Zealand which has made them stronger and contributed to
good governance. These include changes to the electoral system and human rights legislation.
“The meeting will also produce a separate statement on terrorism. This will reflect the international community’s desire
for a multilateral approach to combating terrorism.
“I will have the opportunity for meetings at the conference with a range of Ministers and officials including Colin
Powell, Canadian Secretary of State David Gilgour, Chilean Foreign Minister Maria Soledad Alvear and Peruvian Foreign
Minister Allen Wagner.
“The visit to Hong Kong will include meetings with the President of the Legislative Council, Secretary for Security,
Chief Secretary and Secretary for Justice. I will be participating in a roundtable discussion on China and also meeting
with New Zealand business contacts,” Mr Goff said.
Itinerary
Contact: Rebekah Riley of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is contactable on the following mobile numbers Seoul: 0082 16
9820 9523 Hong Kong: 021 779 119
Media calls can also be arranged through John Tulloch (see numbers above).
NB: New Zealand is 4 hours ahead of Seoul and 5 hours ahead of Hong Kong.
Thursday 7 November
Travel to Seoul.
Friday 8 November
10am to 4pm: Bilateral meetings with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Choi Sung-hong; Chair of National Assembly
Unification, Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee, Suh Chung-hwa.
Saturday 9 November
Visit to Demilitarised Zone and meetings with Korean contacts.
Sunday 10 November
Bilateral meetings with Foreign Ministers and officials attending Democracies Conference.
Monday 11 November
9am to 6pm: Democracies Conference.
Tuesday 12 November
9am to noon: Democracies Conference Afternoon: Bilaterals.
Wednesday 13 November
Travel to Hong Kong.
4pm to 6pm: Roundtable meeting on China.
Thursday 14 November
10am to 4pm: Meetings with President Legislative Council, Rita Fan; Secretary for Security, Regina Ip; Chief Secretary,
Donalt Tsang; Secretary for Justice, Elsie Leung.
Friday 15 November - Return to New Zealand.