Press Briefing

Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Affairs Park Il

February 5, 2026  14:30  KST

Good afternoon. Let me start today’s briefing.

Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Park Yoonjoo will hold the second ROK-Italy Strategic Dialogue with Italy’s Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Maria Tripodi on the afternoon of Wednesday, February 11.

The two countries established the Strategic Partnership in 2018 and launched the vice-ministerial strategic dialogue. The upcoming meeting will be the second of its kind, following the first held in 2020.

Italy is Korea’s fourth-largest trading partner within the EU and a key partner in Europe, visited by approximately one million Korean people each year.

On January 19, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited Korea, becoming the first European leader to do so since the launch of the new Korean government and the first Italian prime minister to visit in 19 years.

At this strategic dialogue, which will be convened again after a six-year hiatus, the two sides will engage in in-depth discussions, based on the agreements reached at last month’s summit, on ways to faithfully implement follow-up measures and further strengthen cooperation across a wide range of areas, including trade and investment, advanced industries, and science and technology, as well as cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

(A question-and-answer session followed.)