Upon requests from Latin American countries to learn from Korea’s best practices in public administration, the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) of the Republic of Korea formed and sent out to the region a large group of Korean government officials from varying government ministries and agencies.

Travelling to Mexico and Colombia from May 15 through 22, the delegation is headed by Vice Minister Kim Sung-lyul of the Interior, and the participating organizations are the Ministry of Government Legislation, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission, and the Korean National Police Agency.

The Ministry of Public Administration of Mexico requested MOI to share its policy expertise and technological knowledge in e-government development and to help build research capabilities. The Ministry of Interior of Colombia paid attention to Korea’s public service portal (Minwon 24), sharing of administrative information, and e-participation portal(e-People).

On Monday, May 16, the Korean delegation held the “Korea-Mexico Cooperation Forum on Public Administration” jointly with the Mexican government at the Krystal Grand Reforma Uno Mexico City.

During the Forum, Vice Minister Kim Sung-lyul of the Interior delivered a keynote speech themed on Korea’s government innovation agenda called Government 3.0.

He also introduced a number of best practices of the Korean government, including the public service portal, “Minwon 24,” and sharing of administrative information (Ministry of the Interior), the National Law Information Center portal (Ministry of Government Legislation), the food safety information portal and the hazardous foods alert system (Ministry of Food and Drug Safety), e-participation portal, “e-People,” and integrity assessment of public organizations (Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission), and forensic techniques (National Police Agency).

Showing their great interest in what Korea had to offer, over 130 Mexican government officials attended the Korea-Mexico Cooperation Forum, and among them were top-ranking officials including Minister Virgilio Andrade Martinez of Public Administration and the Speaker of the City Council of Mexico City.

On the same day, Vice Minister Kim had a bilateral meeting with Minister Martinez of Public Administration and discussed ways of cooperation to beef up government reform efforts and develop digital government. After the meeting, he had an interview with Mexican daily newspaper Reforma, which was focused on Korea’s government innovation agenda.

The next day, on May 17, he will have a round of bilateral meetings with Mexican officials such as National Safety Commissioner Renato Sales and Vice Minister Felipe Solis Acero of the Interior.

Each participating organization from Korea will visit its counterpart organization in Mexico and have a workshop to further discuss the issues raised during the Korea-Mexico Forum. Vice Minister Kim, in particular, will visit the Mexican Ministry of the Interior and propose to conclude a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the area of the legislative system.

Later on, the Korean delegation will fly to Bogota, Colombia on Thursday, May 19 to hold another forum on public administration jointly with the Colombian Ministry of the Interior and visit some Colombian organizations working on government innovation.

In Bogota, Vice Minister Kim will meet with Vice Minister Carmen Ines Vasquez Camacho of the Interior and Vice Minister Jose Javier Perez Mejia of Defense to discuss ways of cooperation in the areas of public administration, Korean rural development model “Saemaul Undong,” and citizen security.

Led by Vice Minister Kim, this group of Korean officials was formed due to the recently rising demand from Latin America for cooperation with Korea in public administration, as well as in economic activities, after President Park’s visit to the region-Mexico in April 2016 and Colombia in April 2015.

The Korean delegation to the region this time is especially significant as the first of its kind in that several government ministries and agencies travel together to promote good governance as well as to pave the way for cross-government international cooperation platform.

Vice Minister Sung-lyul Kim of the Interior stated, “This cross-government delegation from Korea will lay out a platform between Korea and Latin America to discuss government reform efforts and share best practices in e-government.” He then continued, “I hope that this opportunity also helps the Korean business community in Mexico, Colombia, and beyond as more and more people in the region get to know about Korea.”

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  A Score of Korean Officials to Promote Good Governance in Latin America

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  A Score of Korean Officials to Promote Good Governance in Latin America

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  A Score of Korean Officials to Promote Good Governance in Latin America

• 
  A Score of Korean Officials to Promote Good Governance in Latin America

• 
  A Score of Korean Officials to Promote Good Governance in Latin America

• 
  A Score of Korean Officials to Promote Good Governance in Latin America