Cho Hyun: "Meeting with Secretary Rubio Planned for This Month"; Korean Peninsula Issues to Be Discussed

[Financial News] A South Korea-U.S. foreign ministers’ meeting is being arranged for this month. The move appears aimed at dispelling the controversy over “Korea passing” that arose amid efforts to arrange a North Korea-U.S. summit.
Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said during his response to questions from lawmakers at the National Assembly on the government’s policies on the 10th that he would hold a South Korea-U.S. foreign ministers’ meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio within the month.
Cho Hyun emphasized, "South Korea and the United States have continued to hold foreign ministers’ meetings, and another one is planned within this month. The concerns about the ROK-U.S. Alliance circulating in some quarters are unfounded. Even if some people view the situation that way, those concerns can be sufficiently resolved through consultations."
Cho Hyun also said, "Even a strong alliance can have various differences of opinion. Based on that spirit, our government has worked closely with the United States to consult on and resolve issues that have arisen."
Controversy over “Korea passing” had emerged over U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to arrange a North Korea-U.S. summit in November.
The controversy intensified after President Donald Trump said on August 16, local time, that he would unilaterally scale back the South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises without consulting South Korea and seek to hold a North Korea-U.S. summit during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) period in Shenzhen, China, in November.
As signs of strain in the ROK-U.S. Alliance grew, Cho Hyun and Marco Rubio held an unexpected phone call on August 24. Both South Korea and the United States reportedly wanted the call to take place. Asked which side had requested it first, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said, "Both sides wanted to speak with each other."
The South Korean and U.S. foreign ministers also reportedly discussed the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, an issue President Donald Trump had been reluctant to discuss.
Earlier, President Donald Trump said, "I don't want to talk about that," in response to a question about denuclearization on August 19. This led to assessments that the White House was no longer committed to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. In addition, after President Donald Trump specified that North Korea had 57 nuclear weapons, some assessed that he had effectively elevated the country to the status of a nuclear-armed state.
MOFA explained, "As stated in the joint explanatory document from last November’s South Korea-U.S. summit, South Korea and the United States have consistently maintained their goals of peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."
[email protected] Kim Kyung-soo Reporter