Press Briefing

Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations Noh Kyu-duk

May 17, 2018  14:00  KST

Good afternoon. Let me start today’s briefing.

Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun will attend the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, to be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from May 20 to 21.

The upcoming meeting is an international one in which the foreign ministers of the G20 countries gather to discuss the G20 global governance ahead of the G20 Summit, to be held in Buenos Aires from November 30 to December 1.

Vice Minister Cho will attend a discussion session on the first agenda “multilateralism and global governance,” and stress the importance of free and fair trade, as well as the need to develop a new governance model regarding the digital economy.

Vice Minister Cho will also attend a discussion session on the second agenda “action for fair and sustainable development,” and explain the ROK government’s job creation policies, as well as the government’s efforts to devise more policies to provide infrastructure support to developing countries in response to the global infrastructure gap.

In addition, the Vice Minister will explain the key results of the latest inter-Korean summit, and ask for support from the G20 to make a success of the US-North Korea summit based on the achievements of the inter-Korean summit, and thereby achieve complete denuclearization and establish peace on the Korean Peninsula.

For your information, Vice Minister Cho will also hold separate bilateral meetings with US Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan, and the vice foreign minister of Argentina.

This is all for my opening statement. I will take your questions.

[Q&A]

Q: Yesterday, North Korea canceled high-level inter-Korean talks, citing the ROK-US military drills, and the North Korean First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs expressed concern over the US-North Korea summit. What is the ROK government’s position on this?

A: The Standing Committee of the National Security Council held a meeting on that this morning. Cheong Wa Dae released a press release on the results of the meeting to explain the ROK government’s position on that. Please refer to it.

Q: The ROK government has said that it will play a mediating role in issues surrounding the Korean Peninsula. There is a difference of opinion between the US and North Korea, isn’t there? Will the ROK government play a mediating role? If it will do so, how does it plan to do so?

A: The ROK government, in close collaboration with the US, will put all its effort into realizing a nuclear-free Korean peninsula through complete denuclearization, as agreed in the inter-Korean summit.

Q: Collaboration between the ROK and the US is important, and China is also an important player. How are relations with China going?

A: As China also has an important role to play in issues on the Korean Peninsula, the ROK government is closely consulting and cooperating with the Chinese government at each level to make sure that the Chinese government continues to play a constructive role.

Q: I have an additional question. For example, if the ROK Foreign Minister holds telephone conversation with the US Secretary of State, it is made public. I would like to know if there are any such exchanges with China as well.

A: When there is an important diplomatic meeting or contact, we have always made it public and given related explanations.

Q: Yesterday, with regard to North Korea’s anger over the “Libyan model,” White House Press Secretary Sanders said that she was not aware of any discussion underway on that, and used the term “Trump model.” Do you have any information on what is being discussed between the ROK and US governments on the “Trump model?”

A: I do not have any information on that right now. I will consult on what you have just said with related officials, and if there is anything that I can share with you, I will do so.

Q: High-level inter-Korean talks were canceled on account of the Max Thunder exercises. The date when we will visit the Punggye-ri nuclear test site falls within the period of the exercises. Won’t there be any change to the schedule for the dismantlement of the site? I would like to know if there is a possibility of North Korea canceling it.

A: There are no related developments on that right now. A wire news agency and a broadcaster which will send journalists to the nuclear test site for pool reporting in accordance with the agreement have been determined, so we will notify the North Korean side of the list of the journalists today.

Do you have any other questions? If there are no further questions, I will conclude today’s briefing.

Thank you.

* unofficial translation