Press Briefing

Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations Noh Kyu-duk

July 10, 2018  14:30  KST

Good Afternoon. Let me start today’s briefing.

First, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha visited Tokyo, Japan, on July 8, and held the ROK-US, ROK-US-Japan, and ROK-Japan foreign ministerial meetings with US Secretary of State Pompeo, and Japanese Foreign Minister Kono. Especially in the meeting between the ROK Foreign Minister and the US Secretary of State, the two sides shared their assessments of the current situation, including the outcome of Secretary Pompeo’s visit to North Korea, and engaged in in-depth consultations on ways to work towards denuclearization.

Regarding this, Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Lee Do-hoon will visit Washington, the US, from July 11 to 14 for consultations in follow-up to the ROK-US foreign ministerial meeting on July 8.

Special Representative Lee will meet with a team of US administration officials involved in US-North Korea negotiations, and other key officials dealing with issues on the Korean Peninsula, including Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Alex Wong, and NSC Senior Director for Asian Affairs Matt Pottinger. During the Special Representative’s visit to the US, the ROK and the US will engage in working-level consultations and coordination, including devising more concrete measures to achieve complete denuclearization and establish a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula, discussed in the ROK-US foreign ministerial meeting based on the results of the Secretary’s latest visit to North Korea.

Moving on to the next topic, Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun will chair the 36th meeting of the Passport Policy Deliberation Committee at the Foreign Ministry on July 12.

The meeting is held to deliberate on whether to extend the ban on travel to six countries, including Iraq and Syria, and some regions in the Philippines. In the upcoming meeting, members of the Committee from relevant government agencies, including the Office for Government Policy Coordination, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as those from the private sector will assess terrorism risks around the world, and security situations in dangerous regions, and based on the results of the assessment, they will decide whether to extend the ban on travel to the countries and regions for another six months to protect the lives and safety of the Korean people.

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

[Q&A]

Q: You just said that Special Representative Lee Do-hoon will visit the US tomorrow, and meet with the US team involved in negotiations with North Korea. What role has Deputy Assistant Secretary Alex Wong the Special Representative is going to meet taken on, and what will be discussed with him? Then, is Special Representative Lee going to meet only with the Deputy Assistant Secretary and NSC Senior Director Matt Pottinger?

A: Please understand it as it is. Alex Wong is the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs handling issues in the regions, including the Korean Peninsula. Please understand that Special Representative Lee will meet with a team of US administration officials involved in US-North Korea negotiations, and other key officials dealing with issues on the Korean Peninsula, including NSC Senior Director Matt Pottinger.

Q: This morning, Special Rapporteur Quintana said that the ROK government’s thorough and independent investigation was necessary, mentioning the case where North Korean restaurant workers defected to the ROK. I would like to know if the ROK government has any official position on this.

A: Regarding the issue, please contact the Ministry of Unification, which is in charge of the issue.

Q: In his press conference today, Rapporteur Quintana said that human rights should be on the agenda of talks aimed at building peace. What is the ROK government’s position on this?

A: Human rights are a universal value of humanity. The ROK government will continue to closely work together with the international community, including the US, to make sure that increased exchanges and cooperation between the ROK and North Korea to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula have a positive impact on efforts to make tangible progress in improving the human rights of the North Korean people.

Q: Rapporteur Quintana said that the issue of human rights should be discussed together. It is the US which is holding detailed consultations or negotiations with North Korea, and will Special Representative Lee Do-hoon deliver the ROK government’s position on human rights during his upcoming visit to the US? Or will the human rights issue not be on the agenda during his visit to Washington?

A: I think that he will discuss agendas handled by the Office of Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs. As I already said, he is expected to consult on ways to achieve complete denuclearization and to establish a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.

Q: There were some news reports this afternoon that analyzed the progress made in denuclearization since the US-North Korea summit, saying that almost one month had passed since the summit. What progress does the ROK government think has been made in denuclearization for the past one month since the US-North Korea summit? Does the government have any position?

A: On the issue, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha made several remarks at the joint press conference of the ROK, US and Japanese foreign ministers on Sunday. I think in her remarks, Minister Kang talked about the progress that we think has been made for the past one month.

Q: There is some controversy over whether there has been progress or not among some people, including experts watching developments closely. On the issue of transferring the remains of US soldiers, this is of course an issue between the US and North Korea, but many are saying that no progress has been made. The issue of dismantling missile and nuclear test sites, and an engine test site has only been talked about, and the level of progress that President Trump mentioned has not been reached. Some are arguing that the ROK government should increase its role as mediator or facilitator in efforts towards denuclearization. More specifically, what more roles do you think the ROK government can play in US-North Korea negotiations?

A: As far as I know, during Secretary Pompeo’s latest visit to North Korea, the US and North Korea agreed to hold consultations on the transfer of the remains of US soldiers on July 12. It is our assessment that Secretary Pompeo’s third visit to North Korea was a very productive starting point for implementing measures to follow up on the Joint Statement released after the US-North Korea summit. The ROK government hopes that to achieve the goal of completely denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula and establishing a peace regime on the Peninsula, the agreement reached between the leaders of the US and North Korea in their summit on June 12 will be implemented as soon as possible.

I will conclude today’s briefing, if there are no further questions. Thank you.

* unofficial translation