(도입)

 Good afternoon. First of All, let me extend my sincere thanks to Deputy Secretary Blinken and his staff for all the extraordinary efforts in bringing today’s dialogue to a success. I would like to welcome Vice Foreign Minister Sugiyama to the dialogue as well.

ㅇ And I would also like to take this opportunity to extend once again our appreciation to Vice President Biden for his presence and meaningful remarks at the opening session of today’s consultation.

 As we did during the previous rounds of talks, the three of us had another constructive and meaningful discussion.

ㅇ Among them, the North Korean nuclear issue, a strategic priority for the three countries, has been one of the core agenda items.

(북핵‧북한)

 As we have seen recently, North Korea continues to violate UN Security Council resolutions by conducting Musudan and SLBM launches. Its nuclear and missile provocations pose a serious threat to peace and security in the region.

 While strongly condemning these blatant violations of international obligations by North Korea, we have agreed to further strengthen our trilateral cooperation and policy coordination to counter these repeated provocations.

ㅇ We have agreed to take additional measures leading to tougher sanctions and further isolation of North Korea if it conducts another strategic provocation.

 In this context, we shared the need to continuously implement UN Security Council resolutions in a faithful manner with other members of the international community.

ㅇ For this purpose, we seek to actively work together to deliver to North Korea a clear, firm and united resolve of the international community at various upcoming multilateral meetings such as the ARF, EAS and the UN General Assembly.

 Furthermore, we welcomed the recent US sanctions against North Korea for human rights violations. In this vein, we will continue to take part in the international community’s efforts to address and improve human rights situations in North Korea.

(지역안보)

 We discussed various regional issues, including the outcome of the UK referendum on Brexit. We shared the hope that uncertainties surrounding Brexit and the UK’s relationship with the EU and beyond would be stabilized as soon as possible.

 We also discussed maritime security issues in the South China Sea. As 95% of oil imports and 40% of trade of Korea pass through the South China Sea, it is a very important issue for Korea as well.

ㅇ That is why Korea has continued to stress the importance of safeguarding the freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea.

ㅇ We also believe that disputes in the South China Sea should be resolved in accordance with international agreements as well as non-militarization commitments already made.

ㅇ We strongly hope, following the arbitration award issued on July 12, that the South China Sea disputes will be resolved peacefully through diplomatic efforts.

(글로벌 협력)

 Last but not least, we discussed various global issues, such as space, cyber, environment and the arctic.

ㅇ The Korea-US-Japan Consultation on Development Cooperation Policy held in July, as well as the Consultation on the Middle East in June is just an example where the three of us are seeking to coordinate our respective policies.

 Once again, I would like to thank Deputy Secretary Blinken and his team for hosting the very important and timely trilateral meeting here on the beautiful island of Hawaii. Thank you. End.