1. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha met with delegates from the Korea Society on July 18 and exchanged views with them on activities of their organization and the Republic of Korea-United States relations.

※ The New York-based Korea Society is a non-profit organization founded in 1957 at the initiative of then General James Van Fleet to strengthen the friendship and understanding between the ROK and the US.

- The organization holds seminars on policies toward the Korean Peninsula and conducts programs on Korean culture and studies, among others.

※ The Korea Society delegation, including its Chairman Thomas Hubbard, its President Thomas Byrne and former Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, is on a visit to the ROK to attend the dinner on July 18 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the organization.

2. Minister Kang, offering congratulations to the Korea Society over the 60th anniversary in 2017 of its founding, noted that through its robust outreach activities, such as seminars on ROK-related policies, article contributions and interviews with media outlets, the Korea Society helps raise awareness in the US on the ROK. On that note, she asked the organization to double its efforts to win broader support from the US on the ROK-US alliance.

3. In response, Chairman Thomas Hubbard extended appreciation to Minister Kang over her plan to deliver congratulatory remarks at the Korea Society’s 60th anniversary dinner event, adding that the organization will carry out more various and substantial activities in a bid to beef up the ROK-US alliance.

※ Minister Kang will deliver congratulatory remarks at the dinner event to come on July 18 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Korea Society.

4. Minister Kang, citing the recent ROK-US summit talks as an opportunity to deepen the friendship and build trust between the two Presidents and thereby to bolster the foundation of policy coordination during their tenures, pointed out that at the talks, in particular, the two countries had affirmed their shared position with regard to the basic principles concerning policies toward North Korea and ways to implement those policies.

° The Minister mentioned that going forward, efforts will be made to draw up more in-depth ways that the ROK and the US can work together to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue. She added that in a bid to make North Korea stop provocations and return to dialogue, the ROK government, in close coordination with the US, will sincerely implement the “Berlin initiative” recently announced by President Moon Jae-in.

° Chairman Hubbard, calling the situation on the Korean Peninsula grave amid growing nuclear and missile threats from North Korea, noted that at such difficult times, the ROK and the US, while maintaining close collaboration with each other, should make stronger efforts to seek a solution.

5. The meeting between the Foreign Minister and the Korea Society delegation on July 18 is seen to have served as an opportunity to encourage the leading organization in the US for ROK-related public diplomacy to keep up its good work and to have helped the organization better understand the ROK government’s policy and vision.


* unofficial translation