Veli Kaarlo Merikoski (2 January 1905 in Pyhtää – 28 January 1982 in Helsinki) was a professor at the University of Helsinki and once the Minister for Foreign Affairs representing the People's Party.

[2] Merikoski worked as an associate professor of administrative courts in the University of Helsinki 1937–1941.

He was also a chancellor in the Turku School of Economics and a member in the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague.

Kekkonen appointed Merikoski with the task to form a new government following the 1962 parliamentary elections.

Merikoski was the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Ahti Karjalainen's cabinet on the mandate of the People's Party.