Korea to hold overseas missions' meeting this week

South Korea's foreign ministry said Thursday that it will hold a meeting of diplomats in charge of more than a dozen of its overseas missions this week to discuss the country's multilateral diplomatic strategies and policy direction.

Top envoys of 16 overseas missions, including the permanent mission to the United Nations, the permanent delegation to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and embassies in the Netherlands and Thailand, will gather in New York on Friday (local time), according to the ministry.

US Ambassador to Seoul Mark Lippert (left) and Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se (Yonhap)

They will discuss the country's multilateral diplomatic policy direction and ways to expand its role and capacity on the international stage, the ministry said. The meeting will be presided over by Vice Foreign Minister Ahn Chong-ghee.

This year's meeting comes earlier than last year when it was held in March, apparently reflecting a sense of urgency over the fast-changing global diplomatic landscape for Seoul.

On Monday, the ministry brought in its ambassadors to the United States, Japan, China, Russia and the UN, and held a meeting to discuss diplomatic challenges surrounding the Korean Peninsula and East Asia. (Yonhap)