S. KOREA-U.S. HOLD MEETING

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The first face-to-face meeting between South Korea and the United States took place since the inter-Korean hot line was restored. The meeting was arranged as the South Korean government was thinking about how to proceed with inter-Korean cooperation and the announcement of a joint military exercise plan was imminent.

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Foreign affairs authorities of South Korea and the United States met face-to-face in Washington D.C. for the first time since the inter-Korean hotline was restored. The two nations reported that Lim Gap-soo, heading the Korean Peninsula Peace Regime Bureau of the South Korean Foreign Affairs Ministry, and the U.S. State Department’s Deputy Special Representative for North Korea Jung Pak met in Washington D.C. on August 4th
This face-to-face meeting of bureau chiefs followed a phone call between the South Korean vice foreign minister and the Special Representative for North Korea. It is especially noteworthy as the talks follow the restoration of the inter-Korean direct communication channel on July 27th. Joining them at the meeting were South Korean officials from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Unification and the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae. The United States sent officials from the White House National Security Council, and the Treasury and Defense Departments. The Ministry of Unification officials were in charge of inter-Korean cooperation projects while the U.S. Departments of Treasury and Defense were overseeing sanctions against North Korea and joint military drills. The participants appear to have discussed a wide range of topics such as North Korea’s nuclear program, cooperation ideas with North Korea and the ROK-U.S. joint military exercise this month. The U.S. State Department said that the officials talked about the political situation on the Korean Peninsula, the three-way cooperation among South Korea, the United States and Japan, and collaboration with other countries to deal with North Korean issues. The U.S. also reported that the outlooks for providing humanitarian aid to North Korea were discussed, indicating that the possibility of inter-Korean cooperation was examined following the restoration of the hotline. The South Korean foreign affairs mininistry also announced that the two sides talked in-depth about moving inter-Korean relations forward and resuming the DPRK-U.S. talks as soon as possible. It was agreed in June, when U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Sung Kim visited Korea, that bureau chief-level meetings will replace the working-level consultative body of the U.S. Working Group. This meeting was particularly meaningful as it took place not long before the announcement is to be made about whether or not and how the annual ROK-U.S. military exercise will take place.