1. The Ad Hoc Meeting on Financial Aspects of Somali Piracy will be held in Hotel Shilla Seoul on June 29. The meeting will be presided over by Mun Ha-yeong, Ambassador for Overseas Koreans and Consular Affairs.

2. The meeting, the second one since the first meeting in Washington in March, is in line with the growing need for international cooperation to stop the money flow to the Somali pirates and prevent their money laundering, and to gather information about the de facto powers behind the pirates, i.e. the instigators of pirate activities and sources of funds. Despite the international effort to eradicate Somali pirates, their piracy has continued to thrive in recent years and is evolving toward “a highly profitable business model,” a huge change since the days when the Somali pirates began piracy just to make a living.

3. During the meeting, the participants will discuss subjects including: 1) the establishment of a mechanism to share information about pirates, 2) fostering cooperation between investigative agencies or between investigative agencies and other organizations, 3) increasing cooperation between the public and private sectors on information about pirates, and 4) understanding the flow of pirate funds and increasing the capabilities of Somalia and adjacent countries to prevent money laundering by pirates. 

               Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFAT

*unofficial translation