By Lee Kap-soo

President Yoon Suk-yeol, who is in New York for the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly, held his first summit with Prime Minister Ralph Everard Gonsalves of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on the morning of September 22.

During the meeting, President Yoon requested Saint Vincent and the Grenadines' support for the 2030 Busan World Expo and exchanged views on the development of bilateral relations.

President Yoon expressed his pleasure to hold his first bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Gonsalves, who is the first CARICOM country to hold the chairmanship of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) this year and the first Caribbean head of government to achieve five consecutive terms in office, and asked him to support the development of Korea-Caribbean cooperation.

In particular, President Yoon praised the recent high-level exchanges between the two countries, including this year's CARICOM Summit and the visit of a joint public-private mission to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and expressed his hope for further cooperation in various fields, including food security and agricultural and technical cooperation.

Prime Minister Gonsalves expressed his government's appreciation for the humanitarian assistance provided to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in the wake of the 2021 volcanic disaster, and expressed his willingness to support the development of cooperation between the two countries as Saint Vincent and the Grenadines holds the chairmanship of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.

On the occasion of the meeting, the two leaders agreed to further enhance bilateral exchanges and continue to identify cooperative projects that will benefit the two economies.