South Korea-US Foreign Ministers Meet After 7 Months... Subtle Differences in Tone Over Investment and Implementation

[Anchor]

The top diplomats of South Korea and the United States have sat down together again after seven months. They held in-depth discussions ranging from investments in the US to transit issues in the Strait of Hormuz, where subtle differences in tone between the two countries were detected.

Here is a report from Washington correspondent Lee Hanseok.

[Reporter]

Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio sat down together for the first time in seven months since February.

Minister Cho explained that the meeting served as an opportunity for South Korea and the US to reaffirm a broad consensus.

He first conveyed that the US State Department expressed its intent to actively cooperate for the smooth coordination of the 350 billion dollar investment in the US.

[Cho Hyun / Minister of Foreign Affairs: We agreed to work together so that these consultations bear good fruit, and I asked Secretary Rubio to play a role in this process.]

However, the position of the US State Department was subtly different.

Putting semiconductor supply chain cooperation at the forefront, it urged the swift implementation of the agreed-upon investments, placing emphasis on speed.

Regarding North Korea's nuclear solutions, the South Korean government took on the role of a pacemaker helping to resume dialogue while specifying the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, whereas the US put forward the complete denuclearization of North Korea alongside South Korea-US-Japan cooperation.

A high-ranking US official also revealed that US President Donald Trump is willing to respond not only to a face-to-face meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, but also to phone calls.

Minister Cho conveyed a policy to make practical contributions toward restoring navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, and stated that Secretary Rubio reiterated the importance of cooperation to ensure freedom of navigation.

In addition, Secretary Rubio publicly demanded the creation of a fair and equal business environment for US companies.

This is interpreted as indirectly conveying US concerns regarding the recently controversial Coupang situation.

Minister Cho also met with US Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby, where they shared the intent to closely cooperate on security issues such as the transition of wartime operational control.

Reported by Oh Jung-shik | Video by Choi Jin-hwa | Graphics by Lee Ga-jin
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.