1. During his visit to the U.S., Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Yu Myung-hwan met with the former head
of the World Bank Paul Wolfowitz on March 26 and influential personages in the US public opinion in the field
of security and foreign affairs on March 27, including President of the Brookings Institution Strobe Talbott,
CSIS President John Hamre, President of the United States Institute of Peace Richard H. Solomon,
President of the Scowcroft Group Brent Scowcroft and Professor of SAIS Don Oberdorfer.
2. Minister Yu explained in detail Korea’s willingness to further develop the Korea-U.S. alliance and promote
its North Korean policy including the resolution of North Korea’s nuclear issue on the basis of a strong
Korea-US alliance and cooperation. Minister Yu also talked about how the early ratification of Korea-U.S. FTA
and Korea’s entry for U.S. Visa Waiver program can expand the scope of cooperation between the two allies
from the field of military and security affairs to that of economy, trade, society and culture, taking the alliance
to a broader horizon with the mutual benefits increased. In addition, he explained on Korea’s efforts to
actively promote economic improvement and asked for the interest and support of the luminaries he met with
in this regard.
3. The US influentials in response presented Minister Yu with the prospects and specific action plans for the
development of the Korea-U.S. alliance and proposed constructive and eclectic opinions on the situations on
the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia. Minister Yu and the U.S. luminaries shared a view on the
importance of the Korea-U.S. alliance in maintaining peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and
Northeast Asia. In particular, they agreed to continue to cooperate for the successful Korea-U.S. Summit on
April 19 which can be an important milestone in further development of the alliance in the future.
4. Moreover, taking the opportunity, Minister Yu asked for continuous interest and support from the U.S.
influentials in the development of the Korea-U.S. relations.
Spokesperson of MOFAT
* unofficial translation