1. During her visit to Singapore for the ASEAN-related Foreign Ministers’ Meetings 2018, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, together with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of the US, held a Republic of Korea-United States foreign ministerial meeting on August 4. In the meeting, the two top diplomats shared with each other their assessments of the current situation on the Korean Peninsula and extensively discussed bilateral issues.

2. In their meeting that came only about two weeks after the one held in New York on July 20, the Minister and the Secretary shared with each other their assessments of the changes in the situation on the Korean Peninsula and discussed in depth ways that the ROK and the US could work together to accelerate the implementation of the measures agreed upon at the inter-Korean and US-North Korea summit talks.

°Minister Kang informed the US side of the recent developments in the inter-Korean relations and the relevant plans, suggesting that the ROK and the US, in firm coordination with each other, continue strong efforts to achieve the goals of a complete denuclearization and the establishment of a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.

°Secretary Pompeo shared with the Minister details about the progress in the US-North Korea follow-up negotiations and in other relevant matters; took note of the close ROK-US consultation and coordination along the way; and proposed that the two countries work together toward a complete denuclearization, which the leaders of the ROK, the US and North Korea had agreed to seek.

°Highlighting the importance of the ironclad ROK-US alliance, the two sides agreed to maintain watertight coordination on the full range of alliance-related matters.

3. Minister Kang underscored the need for the ROK to be granted a sanctions waiver in order to minimize the impact of the reinstated US sanctions against Iran on Korean economy and companies. Pompeo responded that the ROK government’s request would seriously be looked into.

° With regard to the recent US investigation into the impact of automobiles on security and other ROK-US economic issues, Minister Kang asked the US government to cooperate so that the ROK and the US could draw a mutually beneficial conclusion. The US side mentioned that the Department of State would pay attention to this issue.

* unofficial translation