1. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, who is on a visit to Washington, D.C., attended a seminar co-hosted by the Asian Institute for Policy Studies and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on September 25. At the seminar, attended by about 300 people from various sectors, including academia, business circles and the media of the US, Minister Kang delivered a keynote address under the theme “ROK-US alliance and the North Korean nuclear issue” and engaged in policy discussions.

2. In her keynote address, Minister Kang said that in response to North Korea’s repeated provocations and threats, the ROK and the US are imposing strong sanctions and pressure to bring North Korea to the dialogue table, and taking the lead in establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula by deterring North Korea’s provocations based on strong deterrent capabilities.

o Minister Kang highlighted the importance of the continued and consistent diplomatic efforts of the ROK and the US, as well as the stable management of the situation, and stressed that the inter-Korean talks proposed by the ROK government will contribute to making progress in denuclearization by easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

o Minister Kang said that with the growing threats from North Korea’s nuclear program, the ROK-US alliance is also getting stronger, and asked all, including the governments, parliaments and think tanks of the two countries, to make special efforts to help the alliance play a bigger role and advance further.

3. Following the keynote address, Minister Kang engaged in discussions (moderator: CSIS Korea Chair Victor Cha) with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who was the first State Secretary to visit North Korea, and exchanged in-depth views on ways to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue in a peaceful manner. Right after the discussions, Minister Kang met separately with former Secretary Albright, and had candid discussions on a diplomatic solution to manage the situation on the Korean Peninsula in a stable manner and make a breakthrough in the North Korean nuclear issue, drawing upon the experience of former Secretary Albright, who oversaw negotiations on North Korea’s nuclear program 20 years ago.

4. Minister Kang’s address at the seminar was the first public one during her first own visit to the US since being sworn in as Minister. It is seen to serve as an opportunity to help the US government and people better understand the ROK’s foreign and security policy, and obtain their support for the policy, by providing explanations on the ROK government’s position on the North Korean nuclear and missile issue, and setting out the way forward for the ROK-US alliance.


* unofficial translation