In South Africa, where the Group of 20 (G20) summit is being held, President Lee Jae-myung on the 22nd local time chaired a leaders' meeting of MIKTA, a consultative body of five middle-power countries.
MIKTA includes five countries: Korea, Mexico, Indonesia, Türkiye, and Australia. Korea has served as the chair country for one year since February this year.
Attending the meeting hosted by President Lee in his capacity as chair were Türkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Indonesia Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, and Mexico Finance Minister Edgar Amador Zamora.
The participants agreed that restoring multilateralism and making tangible progress in cooperation among countries are important to address the international community's shared challenges, and they adopted a joint press statement reflecting this intent, the presidential office said in a press release.
According to the presidential office, they said in the joint press statement, "MIKTA seeks to contribute to strengthening global multilateralism while serving as a bridge between developed and developing countries," and added, "This year is a critical moment to reaffirm MIKTA's identity and role."
They went on to say, "We are deeply concerned about the complex and multifaceted challenges facing the international community, including ongoing geopolitical tensions, uncertainty in the global economy, and the complexity of supply chains," and stressed, "In this situation, MIKTA will play a constructive role in building a sustainable international order through close coordination among its members."
On the issue of gender equality, they also explained that "the leaders agreed to prioritize women's full, safe, equal, and meaningful participation in all fields."
Meanwhile, the leaders also specified in the statement that "we express continued support for the three priority tasks of the chair country this year, the Republic of Korea: 'peacebuilding, youth, and accelerating implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.'"
The presidential office explained, "At this meeting, MIKTA leaders emphasized the importance of restoring multilateralism and substantive international cooperation to address the shared challenges facing the international community," and added, "As a trans-regional consultative body with diverse geographic and cultural backgrounds, MIKTA has served as a bridge between developed and developing countries, and they shared the view that this role should be further expanded going forward."