Top South Korean, US diplomats reiterate 'resolute' commitment to North Korean denuclearisation
Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held their first talks since the launch of the Lee Jae Myung administration last month, as Seoul and Washington face a series of cooperation issues, including preparations for a summit between Lee and US President Donald Trump.
Their meeting came just a day after Trump announced a trade deal with Korea, saying that his summit with President Lee will take place at the White House in two weeks.
"Secretary Rubio and Foreign Minister Cho also reaffirmed their resolute commitment to the complete denuclearisation of the DPRK, the full implementation of international sanctions, and expressed serious concerns about North Korea's increasing military cooperation with Russia," Tammy Bruce, the spokesperson, said in a readout.
DPRK is short for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The chief diplomats' show of unity against North Korea's nuclear threats came days after Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, ruled out the possibility of talks on the North's denuclearisation, while noting the personal relationship between Trump and Kim is "not bad."
At the talks, Cho and Rubio underscored the "unwavering" strength of the bilateral alliance, which has served as the "linchpin of peace, security, and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and in the Indo-Pacific for more than 70 years," according to Bruce.
"They expressed continued support for their mutual goal of strengthening the US-ROK alliance, including through our robust combined defense posture and the continued provision of extended deterrence to the ROK," the spokesperson said. ROK is short for South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea.
Extended deterrence refers to the US' stated commitment to using the full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear arms, to defend its ally.
The chief diplomats welcomed Wednesday's trade deal and the forthcoming visit to Washington by the South Korean president, Yonhap news agency reported.
The trade agreement, reached Thursday, commits South Korea to investing US$350 billion in the US in exchange for lowering the reciprocal tariff rate to 15 per cent from the initially proposed 25 per cent.
"The minister and secretary shared the understanding, in particular, of the need to enhance cooperation in shipbuilding and agreed to boost the pan-government framework to materialise the cooperation," Seoul's foreign ministry said in a separate release.
They also agreed that the two countries should work to "modernise" the bilateral alliance in order to elevate its "strategic importance," the ministry said.
"Modernisation of the alliance" is a term that has increasingly been cited by Seoul and Washington, and is largely seen as a US call for its allies to shoulder more of the defence burden and support its strategy to counter China.
Cho hoped that the advanced technology sector, like artificial intelligence, nuclear energy and quantum technology, will develop into another key pillar of alliance cooperation going forward, the ministry said.
Recalling South Korea's invitation to Trump for this year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, Cho also requested US support for the successful hosting of the meeting.
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