1. Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Kyung-wha held a telephone conversation with Secretary of State of the United States Mike Pompeo on October 29. Over the phone, the Minister and the Secretary exchanged views on ways to achieve complete denuclearization and build a permanent peace regime, and discussed key issues between the Republic of Korea and the United States, including the exemption of the ROK from the US sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

2. Minister Kang, bringing renewed attention to close ROK-US consultations on the US plan to reinstate sanctions against Iran, asked the US government to exercise flexibility to the extent possible to exempt the ROK from the sanctions in a bid to minimize damage to Korean enterprises.

° Secretary Pompeo responded that mindful of the ROK’s position, the US will continue close consultations with the country.

3. Minister Kang shared with the Secretary the outcome of her meeting with Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun held earlier in the day, underscoring the need to move forward denuclearization efforts and the inter-Korean relations in a virtuous circle on the basis of close ROK-US coordination. Secretary Pompeo shared with the Minister the recent progress in follow-up negotiations between the United States and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and suggested that the ROK and the US remain cooperative on North Korean issues.

* unofficial translation