A senior U.S. State Department official has vowed to ensure the full implementation of follow-up measures from a recent joint summit document with South Korea. In Washington, Allison Hooker met with First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo to discuss concrete outcomes through fact sheet working groups. The sides also exchanged views on tariff reductions and North Korea policy.
Seoul's foreign ministry announced on December 3 that Allison Hooker, U.S. under secretary of state for political affairs, pledged during a meeting in Washington with First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo to ensure the faithful implementation of follow-up measures from the joint summit document. Park urged Hooker to leverage her longstanding expertise in South Korea-U.S. relations to produce "concrete and tangible" results through sectoral working-level consultative bodies.
"Vice Minister Park asked the under secretary to leverage her longstanding expertise in South Korea-U.S. relations to help generate concrete and tangible results through the operation of sectoral working-level consultative bodies," the ministry said in a release. In response, "Under Secretary Hooker pledged to see to ensure the faithful implementation of follow-up measures."
In an earlier meeting with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, Park and his counterpart agreed to swiftly launch working groups for follow-up negotiations on the two recent leaders' summits, including Seoul's push for nuclear-powered submarines and the pursuit of civil uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing rights.
Park also noted the U.S. announcement on tariff reductions for South Korea, as confirmed by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and requested subsequent actions by relevant U.S. agencies, such as publication of the tariff change in the Federal Register. The two sides exchanged views on the recent situation on the Korean Peninsula and agreed to maintain close coordination on North Korea policy, including the region's denuclearization and efforts to bring the North back to dialogue.
This meeting builds on an October 10 encounter in Seoul between the two officials, where they discussed the bilateral alliance and coordination over North Korea's nuclear issues ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.