1. Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se attended a meeting of the Ministers of the Global Coalition Working to Defeat ISIS, hosted by US Secretary of State Tillerson in Washington, D.C. on March 22. The meeting, attended by all members of the Global Coalition -- 65 countries and 3 international organizations -- brought together 52 ministerial and higher-level officials of major countries, including 48 foreign ministers.

o In his opening address, US Secretary of State Tillerson reaffirmed the Trump administration’s strong willingness to completely eliminate ISIS. Minister Yun, designated as one of twelve speakers at the plenary meeting, stressed the importance of stabilizing areas recaptured from ISIS in Iraq and Syria and preventing the flow of foreign terrorist fighters into other regions. Mentioning the incident at a Malaysian airport where a chemical weapon was used, Minister Yun also highlighted the need to deter violent extremists from obtaining weapons of mass destruction.

o In its joint statement, the Global Coalition reaffirmed the need for stabilization in Iraq and a political transition in Syria, and agreed to make joint efforts to prevent ISIS from dispersing its fighters, weapons, or resources and provide humanitarian support, to disrupt ISIS networks, and to discredit ISIS’s propaganda.

2. On the sidelines of the meeting, Minister Yun met separately with his counterparts from about 30 countries. Minister Yun especially met with US key officials handling its policy towards the Korean Peninsula, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense James Mattis, and Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin.

o Secretary Tillerson expressed appreciation to Minister Yun for attending the counter-ISIS ministerial meeting. The two sides shared the view that Secretary Tillerson’s visit to the ROK last week was very successful.

o Secretary Mattis said that though the ROK is going through a somewhat difficult period domestically, the US will always be with the ROK, and stressed once again the solid ROK-US alliance and the firm US commitment to the defense of the ROK.

o Minister Yun emphasized to Secretary Mnuchin that as the US is reviewing its North Korea policy, the role of Secretary Mnuchin and the Department of the Treasury is very important in strengthening sanctions against North Korea. In response, Secretary Mnuchin said that he and his Department are closely coordinating on the issue with Secretary Tillerson and the Department of State.

3. The US government placed great importance on the meeting of the Ministers of the Global Coalition Working to Defeat ISIS, the first large-scale international meeting hosted by Secretary Tillerson since his inauguration, as demonstrated by the fact that it was attended by a number of secretaries of the Trump administration, including the Secretaries of State, Defense, and the Treasury.

o The meeting served as an opportunity to reaffirm the international community’s strong willingness to collaborate to completely eliminate ISIS, which, along with North Korea’s nuclear program, poses a grave threat to the international community. The meeting was also an opportunity to reaffirm the strong and firm ROK-US alliance, a comprehensive strategic alliance which addresses the international community’s common security issues, including violent extremism, refugees and humanitarian aid.

o It is especially significant that on the sidelines of the meeting, the ROK side met with key US officials as part of high-level consultations between the two countries to reaffirm once again their common view on the way forward for advancing the ROK-US alliance and resolving the North Korean nuclear issue.


* unofficial translation