1. On August 22, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha met with a delegation from the US Senate and House of Representatives, which included Senator Ed Markey, and exchanged views on ways to deal with North Korea and its nuclear issue, as well as ways to cooperate with the US Congress.

2. Minister Kang said that the leaders of the ROK and the US, in their summit meeting in June this year, agreed on the principle of resolving the North Korean nuclear issue peacefully, and explained that under the principle of “strategic responsibility,” the ROK and the US are closely coordinating bilateral, multilateral and unilateral measures to denuclearize North Korea.

o Minister Kang explained various efforts being made by the ROK government to deter North Korea’s additional provocation and induce the North’s denuclearization under the principle that the government will respond firmly to North Korea’s provocations, but there should not be a war in any form on the Korean Peninsula.

o Senator Markey and other members of the delegation expressed strong expectations for additional roles and contributions of neighboring countries, including China, and also expressed disappointment over China, which is continuing its economic retaliation against the ROK, rather than working on the North Korean nuclear issue, which is a source of the problems related to the THADD deployment (The delegation will visit Dandong).

3. The two sides exchanged views on a range of humanitarian affairs, including North Korean defectors, the human rights of North Korean women, and families separated by the Korean War, and agreed to continue to seek concrete ways for the US Congress and the ROK government to work together on the issues.

4. Senator Markey is a pro-ROK legislator who has actively supported the ROK’s democratization movement since he served in the House of Representatives (he was with former President Kim Dae-jung on the plane when the former President returned home). The visit to the ROK by the delegation is expected to further strengthen the foundation for cooperation with the US Congress.


* unofficial translation