Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the USA

1. During his visit to the United States, Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul had his first bilateral meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken since his inauguration at the U.S. Department of State on February 28, local time. In the meeting that came merely six days after the ROK-U.S.-Japan foreign ministers’ meeting on February 22, the two sides had a fruitful and in-depth discussion on the ROK-U.S. Alliance and ROK-U.S.-Japan cooperation; nuclear and other issues related to North Korea; information cooperation; and regional and global issues. 

2. The Ministers agreed to further step up high-level exchanges including communication between presidents as well as strategic consultation at all levels this year, marking the beginning of new 70 years for the ROK-U.S. Alliance, to fulfill the vision of “Alliance in Action toward the Future” as agreed during President Yoon Suk Yeol’s State Visit to the U.S. last year. Furthermore, the two sides agreed to faithfully implement the work on institutionalization of ROK-U.S.-Japan cooperation and follow-up measures in various sectors this year in a bid for achievements of trilateral cooperation to reach the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.

3. The Ministers appreciated that the ROK and the U.S. are responding in complete lockstep to the ongoing provocations and threats from North Korea since early this year, and agreed to actively cooperate to seamlessly respond. They also agreed to redouble efforts to block North Korea’s revenue generation through various illicit activities and bring renewed attention to issues of abductees, detainees, unrepatriated prisoners of war and North Korean defectors as this year marks the tenth anniversary of the report of the UN Commission of Inquiry (COI) on Human Rights in North Korea.  The two sides, underscoring Russia-North Korea military cooperation as a violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions as well as a grave threat to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and beyond, agreed to strengthen diplomatic coordination to bring an end to the unlawful military cooperation.

4. The Ministers noted that the ROK-U.S. Alliance is maintaining an ironclad and airtight combined defense posture like never before, and agreed to actively support efforts of the Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) in accelerating consultations and cooperate to further strengthen extended deterrence as stipulated in the Washington Declaration.

5. The Ministers discussed regional and global issues including those concerning Ukraine and the Middle East and agreed to bolster collaboration as members of the UN Security Council and to work together to safeguard universal values such as freedom, democracy and human rights. In that light, Foreign Minister Cho welcomed Secretary Blinken’s plan to attend the third Summit for Democracy and underlined Korea’s intention to reinforce cooperation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Group of 7 (G7) countries. The two sides agreed to expedite the institutionalization of information cooperation for close policy coordination between the two countries amid the rapidly changing international landscape.