The Secretary-General met today with Mr. Chung Ui-Hwa, the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea (RoK), as well as other parliamentary leaders from various parties.  The Secretary-General expressed his hope for the RoK's continued contributions towards the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda, climate change efforts, countering violent extremism,  and other global issues.   He also stressed the importance of the National Assembly's role in making progress on gender equality and women's empowerment in the country.  The Secretary-General noted that the international community's expectations of the RoK, as the only country that successfully transitioned from the least developed status to a member state of OECD, to contribute to above issues are high and underlined the importance of bipartisan support within the National Assembly in this respect.

The Secretary-General also expressed his deep regret regarding the unexpected decision by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to reverse its decision inviting him to the Kaesong Industrial Complex early today.  He reiterated that he would spare no effort to continue supporting the dialogue and reconciliation efforts between the RoK and the DPRK.

The Secretary-General expressed his gratitude to the Speaker and the parliamentary leaders for their pledge to fully support the Secretary-General's initiatives regarding inter-Korean dialogue, peacekeeping, SDGs, climate change, and other urgent issues.