▲ Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and Senator Bill Hagerty
South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun arrived in the United States on the 17th (local time) for bilateral foreign ministerial talks.
On the very first day of his visit, he met with members of the US Senate and House of Representatives to exchange views on South Korea-US relations and major pending issues.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, shortly after arriving in Washington, D.C., Minister Cho held separate meetings with Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), and Representative Gregory Meeks (D-NY).
During the meetings, Minister Cho noted that cooperation between South Korea and the US is more crucial than ever amid rapidly changing international circumstances, and asked for active support from the US Congress to swiftly implement the Joint Fact Sheet (JFS) from the South Korea-US summit.
He also requested that the US Congress maintain its unwavering support for the South Korea-US alliance even after the midterm elections in November.
According to the Foreign Ministry, Senator Hagerty praised South Korea for developing the bilateral alliance on a mutually beneficial basis backed by economic growth, and stated that he would continue to play a necessary role, including supporting South Korean companies operating in Tennessee.
Chairman Jordan noted the need to smoothly manage bilateral issues based on mutual trust, and said the two sides should maintain continuous communication for the mutually beneficial development of South Korea-US relations.
Representative Meeks emphasized the need for close coordination between South Korea and the US regarding the establishment of peace on the Korean Peninsula and various global challenges, and promised to support the strengthening of bilateral cooperation based on bipartisan congressional support for the alliance.
Minister Cho is scheduled to hold talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the morning of the 18th local time (night of the 18th Korean time) to discuss bilateral issues.
Discussions during the meeting are expected to cover major pending issues such as the South Korean government's investment projects in the US and the deployment of troops to the Strait of Hormuz.
Previously, on his way to the US departing from Incheon International Airport, Minister Cho told reporters regarding the background behind the delayed announcement of US investments, "As I understand it, rather than there being differences between South Korea and the US, it is about making domestic procedural matters more definitive."
He also reaffirmed his previous stance regarding the US request for troop deployment to the Strait of Hormuz, stating, "Nothing has been decided yet, and we are reviewing the matter while taking various factors into consideration."
(Photo: Provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Yonhap News)
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