1. First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yong and his Guatemalan counterpart Oscar Padilla signed an agreement between the government of the Republic of Korea and the government of the Republic of Guatemala on the mutual recognition and exchange of driving licences at the Foreign Ministry of Guatemala on May 14 local time, right after the third ROK-Guatemala high-level policy consultation.

2. Guatemala is the fourth Latin American country to sign the agreement on the mutual recognition of driving licences with the ROK, after Chile (2007), Ecuador (2012), and Peru (2012). The ROK and Guatemala have recognized driving licences issued by each other’s countries based on the principle of reciprocity, but it actually took a long time for Koreans to exchange their driving licence for a Guatemalan one due to complex procedures. The newly-signed agreement is expected to resolve such inconvenience by making it possible for Koreans to quickly exchange their licence for a local one.

3. In an effort to improve convenience for Koreans staying in Latin America, the Foreign Ministry has been seeking to sign the agreement on the mutual recognition of driving licences with Nicaragua, Argentina, Honduras and Colombia. The Foreign Ministry will provide consular services that can directly benefit Koreans by continuing to sign the agreement with more countries.


*unofficial translation