By Kim Ji-eun

Minister of Foreign Affairs Park Jin had a series of telephone calls with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel, Eli Cohen, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of Jordan, Ayman Al-Safadi, on October 29 and discussed the recent escalation of the armed conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Foreign Minister Park expressed deep concern over the current situation where the total death toll has exceeded 9,400 due to the escalation of the armed conflict, and in particular, casualties are surging as airstrikes have intensified to the highest level and ground operations have expanded in Gaza over the weekend.

During the conversation with Israeli Foreign Minister Cohen, Foreign Minister Park strongly condemned Hamas's indiscriminate attacks and expressed his hope for the immediate release of the hostages, while stressing the importance of complying with international law to protect civilians and mentioning the necessity to prevent any further harm to innocent civilians.

Foreign Minister Park and the UAE and Jordanian Foreign Ministers concurred that the armed conflict must not spread further and a humanitarian pause is necessary to prevent the crisis from worsening.

In addition, Foreign Minister Park commended the UAE for its leadership in calling for an emergency UN Security Council meeting, sharing the need for urgent discussions at the UN Security Council.

 
Furthermore, Foreign Minister Park also called for the full attention and cooperation of the Foreign Ministers to ensure the safety of Korean nationals in the region including Israel and Lebanon.

Foreign Minister Park had a phone call with the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, on October 20 and with the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, on October 21.

Foreign Minister Park also met respectively with the Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister in Riyadh on October 22 and the Qatari Foreign Minister in Doha on October 25. He shared his concerns about the current situation and asked them to work closely together to prevent the situation from deteriorating.

This series of conversations served as an opportunity for the government of the Republic of Korea to strengthen timely communication with relevant countries in the Middle East, express its commitment to cooperating in resolving this issue, and secure support for protection of overseas nationals in the midst of the intensifying armed conflict, which is a major issue for the international community.