1. On July 9, Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam met with five members of the US House of Representatives, who were on a visit to the Republic of Korea. In the meeting, the two sides exchanged views on matters of mutual concern, including the current situation on the Korean Peninsula, the ROK-US alliance, and economic and trade cooperation.

※ The US Representatives who attended the meeting were Michael Turner from Ohio, Jack Bergman from Michigan, Cheri Bustos from Illinois, Jared Huffman from California, and Conor Lamb from Pennsylvania.

※ The schedule of the US Congresspeople in the ROK from July 6 till 10 includes a visit to a US Forces Korea base and the inter-Korean demilitarized zone, and meetings with government officials.

2. Vice Minister Lim brought attention to the fact that the US Representatives’ visit to the ROK came at an important point in time on the heels of Secretary of State Pompeo’s visit to North Korea. He went on to mention that as the saying “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” goes, the US and North Korea had recently held negotiations in the significant first step toward full-fledged follow-up negotiations; and expressed hope that the ROK and the US would work closely together in order for this positive momentum to produce tangible results.

° The Vice Minister extended appreciation to the US Congress for firmly backing up efforts to ease tension and promote peace on the Korean Peninsula as a steadfast supporter for the ROK-US alliance; and asked for the US Congress’ support for and cooperation on the work to create a new, peaceful and prosperous Korean Peninsula.

3. The Congresspeople noted that their visit to the ROK served as an opportunity to see for themselves once again the strong ROK-US relations in security, economy and various other areas. They added that the US Congress recognized the need for the denuclearization and peace on the Korean Peninsula; and that as the US and North Korea had taken a significant step, facilitated by the determination of the ROK and US Presidents, the US Congress would contribute and play a role in that regard with patience and to the extent possible.

4. Vice Minister Cho expressed concern over the recent US move to impose restrictions on car imports for reasons of national security, stressing that the car exports of the ROK, a US ally, did not pose a threat to the US security.

° With regard to the KORUS (Korea-US) FTA revision concluded in March, the Vice Minister asked the US Congress to pay attention to and cooperate on the US work to complete the relevant follow-up procedures as soon as possible.

* unofficial translation