1. On the afternoon of July 17, Deputy Minister for Political Affairs Yoon Soon-gu met with Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs of the United States (U.S.) David R. Stilwell, who is on a visit to the Republic of Korea (ROK) between July 16 and 18 as part of his first trip to Asia since his inauguration. During the meeting, the two sides exchanged views on various matters of mutual interest, such as ways to further strengthen the ROK-U.S. alliance, and the situation in the region including the ROK-Japan relations.

2. The Deputy Minister and the Assistant Secretary shared the understanding that policy cooperation between the ROK and the U.S. is more essential than ever in the wake of President Donald Trump’s successful visit to the ROK in late June. Also, the two sides noted Assistant Secretary Stilwell’s visit to the ROK as an opportunity to help further strengthen the steadfast ROK-U.S. alliance through substantial bilateral consultations on issues concerning the Korean Peninsula, the ROK-U.S. relations and the region.

3. With regard to the unilateral measures to impose restrictions on the export of its products to Korea recently taken by the Japanese government, Deputy Minister Yoon expressed concern that Japan was not responding to the ROK government’s proposal to resolve the issue through dialogue and that Japan’s unilateral measures are not conducive to the improvement of the situation. He went on to ask the U.S. government to play a role to the extent possible for an early resolution of the issue.

° Assistant Secretary Stilwell mentioned that cooperation between the ROK and Japan is very important for peace, stability and prosperity of Northeast Asia, and that the U.S. fully understands the seriousness of the issue and, as an ally, will do what it can to support the efforts of the two countries to resolve the issue.

4. The Deputy Minister and the Assistant Secretary, sharing the understanding that there is a great potential for cooperation between the ROK’s New Southern Policy and the Indo-Pacific strategy of the United States, agreed to make efforts to advance bilateral cooperation in various areas, including economy and governance.

5. The Deputy Minister and the Assistant Secretary agreed that this meeting served as a very good opportunity to share their views on various matters of mutual interest. They decided to continue to actively seek opportunities to discuss ways to deal jointly with bilateral, regional and global strategic issues, including by holding consultations between the Deputy Minister and the Assistant Secretary on a regular basis.

* unofficial translation