CARICOM and the Republic of Korea (RoK) on Tuesday formalised a decade-old friendship with the accreditation of the first non-permanent envoy of the country to CARICOM.
Deputy Secretary-General of CARICOM, Manorma Soeknandan accepted the Letters of Credence from Ki-Mo Lim at the Headquarters of the CARICOM Secretariat, a release from CARICOM said yesterday.
She said CARICOM welcomed and celebrated this formal step towards a more institutionalised partnership with RoK, better known as South Korea.
Soeknandan added that CARICOM looked to like-minded countries, like South Korea, and to multilateral, regional and international organisations for
support in protecting its interests.
In this context, she said CARICOM faced considerable challenges in tapping concessional financing due to graduation as a result of the use of per-capita income as the sole criterion for gauging development.
The Deputy Secretary-General told the Ambassador that the Community was heartened by South Korea’s recent affirmation of its continued commitment to addressing the threat of climate change and its continued support for the Paris Climate Change Agreement.
Given that the Region was prone to natural disasters and for the Community, climate change was an existential threat, the Paris Agreement she stated “encompassed the hope of our generations for an enduring existence.”
CARICOM and South Korea held their first Consultation and Co-operation Mechanism Meeting, in January 2007. The release said that over the last ten years, the friendship has deepened through the High-Level Caribbean Partnership Forums held annually in South Korea.