Presidential Office Says Ambassador to US Had Productive Discussions on Bilateral Issues, Including Coupang

▲ Cheong Wa Dae

The presidential office stated regarding the temporary return of South Korean Ambassador to the United States Kang Kyung-wha to discuss bilateral pending issues, including the Coupang matter, that she returned at a timing when it could be useful to have discussions with a comprehensive picture in mind.

National Security Office Chief Wi Sung-lak met with reporters and said, "It is common practice for overseas resident ambassadors to come to the domestic office for work consultations as needed," making the remarks.

Ambassador Kang previously made a temporary return from June 15 to 19 upon the instructions of Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Hyun to hold work consultations with relevant ministries.

Chief Wi explained, "The ambassador to China also returned to Seoul for work consultations a short while ago, and the case of the ambassador to the US just drew more attention."

Chief Wi conveyed, "There are various issues between South Korea and the U.S. Even as allies, pending issues between countries are inevitable, and having none would be abnormal," adding, "On the occasion of the US ambassador coming to South Korea, we jointly discussed pending issues in a meeting body where various individuals gathered."

He further elaborated, "The US ambassador introduced various sentiments from the field and policy recommendations, contributing to making the overall discussions productive and rich."

Chief Wi mentioned, "The Coupang issue was of course discussed as well," adding, "Opinions were gathered to comprehensively look over various issues and prepare response measures."

Regarding Coupang, he repeatedly highlighted the point that no discriminatory treatment is being applied.

Chief Wi emphasized, "Among South Korea-U.S. pending issues, the single issue with the greatest weight and importance is investment, followed by Coupang," and "(This issue) is being handled according to prescribed regulations and legal procedures, and (our government) is not treating it in a discriminatory or targeted manner."

He continued, "This issue should be handled through regulations and legal procedures; if methods driven by lobbying take the lead, the original legal procedures could go awry," stating, "It must be handled fairly and non-discriminatorily according to procedures."

When a question arose asking whether the Coupang issue, coupled with the U.S. move to introduce "Trade Act Section 301 tariffs" instead of global tariffs, would also affect tariffs on South Korea, Chief Wi replied, "We understand that even if there are Section 301 measures, they will not exceed the major tax rates previously agreed upon between South Korea and the U.S."

Expressing agreement with Policy Planning Senior Secretary Kim Yong-beom's outlook that the contours of the "first investment in the U.S." will likely emerge around August to September, he projected, "If there is progress, it could have a positive impact (on other pending issues)."

To the observation that security consultations between South Korea and the U.S. might be delayed, he drew a line by saying, "There are no such signs," and "There were such occurrences in the past, but not now."

Regarding uranium enrichment and spent nuclear fuel reprocessing, which are pillars of security consultations, he said, "We are preparing for the second round of consultations following the early June talks," adding, "We are also equipped with the readiness to go (to the U.S.) for consultations if necessary."

Concerning the construction method for military vessels requested by U.S. President Donald Trump, he mentioned, "We are continuously assessing it and a clear direction has not yet emerged," adding, "There appear to be circumstances hinting at keeping new methods different from the existing ones in mind, so we are looking into it."

Regarding the cyberattack on the Korea National Diplomatic Academy server, Chief Wi stated, "We do not have a clear grasp of the hacking perpetrators and are continuing to figure it out," adding, "We can make estimations and are investigating with all possibilities open."

He then explained regarding the foreign ministry's failure to publicize the attack, which occurred around April to May of last year, even after recognizing it in early February of this year, "Among the hacked information, matters requiring urgent handling from a security dimension were discovered, and they had to be dealt with prior to public disclosure, which took several months."

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