On the 16th (local time), Minister Cho spoke to reporters at a hotel in Munich, Germany, about the US-ROK foreign ministers' meeting held the previous day, saying, "We will strengthen the US-ROK alliance and strengthen our relations with North Korea.
"We reaffirmed our agreement on the direction of expanding cooperation between the United States and South Korea and Japan-US-South Korea cooperation, and this will serve as the basis for even closer communication at the ministerial level between the two countries," Cho said.
During the security conference in Seoul, the two held the first U.S.-South Korea foreign ministers' meeting since the inauguration of the second term of the Trump administration, and discussed the U.S.-South Korea alliance, the North Korean nuclear issue, and tariff issues.
Regarding the protectionist policies of the Trump administration, Minister Cho said, "Regarding tariffs on steel and aluminum, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and other relevant departments will work to minimize the impact on Korean companies.
"We will soon hold discussions with the US side regarding the possibility of mutual tariffs," he said, adding, "We will also discuss and analyze the impact of this with the industry and do our best to minimize the impact on the Korean economy."
President Trump announced that he would raise tariffs on steel and aluminum products from South Korea and other countries to a flat 25% from the 12th of next month, and that other countries would begin imposing tariffs on American products from April.
"In the context of U.S.-Korea economic cooperation, we will continue to strengthen the network of Korean companies, as well as the U.S. diplomatic missions overseas," Cho said.
"We are also making extensive use of the existing facilities and working hard to find new areas of cooperation, such as shipbuilding," he said.
Economic and security issues were among the topics discussed. In a joint statement issued after the meeting, the foreign ministers of Japan, the United States and South Korea expressed their support for Taiwan's meaningful participation in appropriate international organizations.
Regarding the addition of the word "appropriate" in the draft, he said, "This is the result of taking China's views into consideration." He did not support membership in all international organizations, but rather, he said, "We should support membership in organizations that do not assume national identity."
He also mentioned the possibility of joining an international organization. This visit to Germany was Minister Cho's first overseas visit since the declaration of emergency martial law on December 3. Minister Cho said, "In terms of international relations, I would like to see Korea's diplomacy grow.
"Many partner countries also expect Korea to overcome the current crisis as soon as possible and continue diplomatic activities in the world commensurate with its national strength, and
We hope to deepen cooperation with them."
2025/02/17 07:10 KST
Copyrights(C) Edaily wowkorea.jp 107