1. The Sherpa Meeting for the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit will be held in New Delhi, India, on January 16-17 in preparation for the Seoul event.
 

* The Meeting will bring together the Sherpas of some 50 countries and international organizations invited to the Seoul Summit.

2. The Meeting will deal comprehensively with matters related with preparations for the Summit, including the Seoul Communique, the Summit program, and the registration for participation in the Summit.

3. The Republic of Korea, as the chair of the Summit, will actively consult with the participating Sherpas to see tangible progress in drawing up the text of the Seoul Communique, based on the five basic principles for drafting the Communique agreed upon at the Sherpa Meeting held in Helsinki last October.

* The five basic principles for drafting the Communique are: 1) placing nuclear security at the center of the discussion; (2) ensuring the continuity of the Washington Nuclear Security Summit, while at the same time, making new progress; (3) ensuring the voluntary nature of national commitments and participation; (4) opting against the creation of a new regime; and (5) respecting President Obama’s vision to secure all vulnerable nuclear material in a four-year lockdown.

4. The Sherpa Meeting is expected to serve as an important opportunity to reach an agreement on substantive matters ahead of the Seoul Summit. The Sherpas will meet again in Seoul right before the Summit for final preparations.

                Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFAT

* unofficial translation