1. Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam will visit Washington and New York, the US, from January 16 till 20.

2. In Washington, Vice Minister Lim will meet with Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan and other officials of the US administration for exchanges of views on matters of mutual concern, including the outcome of the high-level inter-Korean talks and the North Korean nuclear issue.

° In addition, Vice Minister Lim, together with Vice Defense Minister Suh Choo-suk, will attend the second meeting of the Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group (EDSCG) and discuss with the US side comprehensive deterrence measures against North Korea that can be taken to support the efforts to diplomatically and peacefully resolve the North Korean nuclear issue.

※ The ROK and US head delegates to the meeting will be Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam and Vice Defense Minister Suh Choo-suk; and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Shannon and Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy David Trachtenberg.

3. Vice Minister Lim will then visit New York, where he will pay a courtesy call on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres; and hold a working luncheon with academics and former officials, including former Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy and Senior Fellow Daniel Russel of the Asia Society, and visit the Korea Society in outreach activities designed to step up public diplomacy toward the US.

* unofficial translation