1. Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang, Kyung-wha had a telephone conversation with Federal Minister for European and International Affairs of the Republic of Austria Alexander Schallenberg on the evening of October 20 and discussed the selection of the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the way forward for the relations between the Republic of Korea and the Republic of Austria.

2. Minister Kang asked for Austria’s support for Minister for Trade Yoo Myung-hee, who has advanced to the final round of the selection process for the next WTO Director-General, and Minister Schallenberg highly commended Minister Yoo’s competence.

3. The two Ministers noted with appreciation that the two countries have been engaging in close communication, including the fruitful discussion on COVID-19 response during the telephone conversation between the leaders of the two countries in April 2020, and agreed to work actively together in order to step up substantive cooperation in a range of areas even amid the global resurgence of COVID-19.