1. First Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam held a telephone conversation with US Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken on the morning of January 13. In the conversation, the two ranking diplomats agreed to hold a Republic of Korea-United States vice foreign ministerial meeting in Tokyo on January 16, and exchanged views on ways to coordinate their response to the recent fourth nuclear test by North Korea.

* The telephone conversation, which took place at the request of Deputy Secretary Blinken, marked the first of its kind between Vice Minister Lim and Deputy Secretary Blinken since the former taking up the current post. As such, it also carried significance as an opportunity to share greetings between the two prior to the forthcoming ROK-US meeting.

2. The Vice Minister and the Deputy Secretary, fully sharing the view that North Korea’s recent nuclear test constitutes a head-on challenge to the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and an unacceptable provocation, agreed to make stern, joint responses.

◦ In particular, Deputy Secretary Blinken re-highlighted the more-than-ever firm and unswerving US commitment to the security on the Korean Peninsula, proposing that the ROK and the US coordinate closely for bilateral and UN responses to make North Korea pay a price commensurate to the nuclear test.

3. The Vice Minister and the Deputy Secretary agreed to make full use of the ROK-US meeting in Tokyo on January 16 for in-depth consultations on ways to respond to the North Korean nuclear issue and to advance the ROK-US alliance.


* unofficial translation