30
Jun
Parliamentary leaders from MIKTA (an acronym from Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey and Australia) will hold their first meeting in Seoul early next month, the National Assembly said.
Seoul is hosting the meeting, aiming to seek cooperation for peaceful unification on the Korean Peninsula in the year marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, an Assembly official said Monday. The meeting will start July 1 and continue over five days.
Five speakers of legislative bodies will discuss the Assembly’s role in reaching sustainable development goals and tackling regional challenges, including North Korea’s nuclear issue.
Participants include National Assembly Speaker Chung Ui-hwa; Miguel Barbosa Huerta, president of the Senate of Mexico; Irman Gusman, speaker of the Regional Representative Council of the People’s Consultative Assembly of Indonesia; and Stephen Parry, president of the Senate of Australia.
Chung plans to explain South Korea’s stance on the North’s nuclear program and to promote cooperation for peaceful unification on the Korean Peninsula.
MIKTA is an informal and non-exclusive group that aims to enhance the partnership among the mid-sized powers.
It was formed in September 2013, with the goal of generating fresh impetus for global governance. MIKTA brings together key mid-power countries that are able to play a bridging role between advanced and developing countries.
They belong to the G20, a group of 20 major economies, but they are not included in the G7 or BRICs, groupings of major and emerging global economies.
Source: https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2015/06/116_181824.html