In Washington, South Korea's new ambassador to the US, Kang Kyung-wha, pledged on November 18 to work closely with American counterparts to create conditions for resuming talks with North Korea. She emphasized South Korea's role as a peacemaker and pacemaker in fostering inter-Korean and US-North Korea dialogues.
Ambassador Kang Kyung-wha, who took office last month and previously served as Seoul's foreign minister from 2017 to 2021, made these remarks during her first meeting with Korean correspondents in Washington. "While closely communicating with the U.S. side, (we) will continue (efforts) to secure support for our policy toward North Korea," she said.
"Together with the U.S., our government—as a peacemaker and a pacemaker—plans to continue efforts to enable conditions to become ripe for inter-Korean dialogue and dialogue between the North and the U.S.," she added. These terms were used by President Lee Jae Myung during his August White House summit with U.S. President Donald Trump to underscore commitment to close U.S. cooperation for peace on the divided Korean Peninsula.
Kang noted that through the two summits between Lee and Trump—including the second in Korea last month—the two countries agreed to cooperate closely for peace and stability on the peninsula and concurred on the importance of communication with North Korea. Amid complex international circumstances with many challenges and uncertainties, she expressed a heavy sense of responsibility to implement the Lee administration's pragmatic diplomacy, supported by the robust, future-oriented U.S. alliance.
Within around five months since the Lee administration's launch, South Korea and the U.S. successfully concluded reciprocal leaders' visits, striking agreements on trade and security and reaching a new starting point for the alliance. She believes the trust between Lee and Trump and their will for cooperation will form a crucial foundation for alliance development.
Commenting on the recently released joint fact sheet on bilateral trade and security agreements, Kang said Seoul and Washington achieved unprecedented, weighty outcomes. These include Seoul's commitment to investing $350 billion in the U.S. in return for Washington lowering reciprocal tariffs on South Korean products to 15 percent from 25 percent, and U.S. support for Seoul's push to acquire nuclear-powered submarines. The embassy plans to support efforts to proceed with these agreements as planned. Regarding the submarine project, the embassy believes U.S. domestic procedural issues or potential disagreements within the Trump administration will not pose serious hurdles, as the fact sheet clearly states the leaders' will. Speculation persists that Trump's approval could trigger internal debates over proliferation concerns.
