Moon-Biden summit key to establishing peace on Korean Peninsula: Amb. Lee

WASHINGTON -- South Korea's ambassador to the United States on Tuesday stressed the importance of dialogue between the countries' leaders in strengthening their alliance.

Amb. Lee Soo-hyuck also said a summit between President Moon Jae-in and incoming US President Joe Biden will help enhance the countries' joint efforts to establish permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula.

"The most important task facing us is to hold a South Korea-US summit at an early date after the new US administration comes into office next year to further strengthen the Korea-US alliance and set the main direction for progress in the Korean peace process," the South Korean ambassador told a press conference.

His remarks came one day after the US Electoral College confirmed Biden's victory in the Nov. 3 election.

Biden is set to be inaugurated on Jan. 20.

Lee noted his embassy, just like any other foreign diplomatic missions here, has had difficulties in talking directly with President-elect Biden and his transition team.

"In the more mid- to long-term, we will seek to come up with our way of dealing with the new US administration while closely studying the direction of its China policy and its move to rejoin multilateral efforts," the South Korean diplomat said.

Lee noted the US-China competition may have been amplified as it began to surface amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Still, the ambassador said the US-China rivalry may continue for some time.

"It shows the US-China conflict may surface in various forms and in any area and that it cannot but continue for a considerable period of time in the future," he said.

Reflecting on the past year, Lee said his biggest disappointment was the fact that denuclearization talks with North Korea could not be resumed.

"North Korea's domestic conditions and its strategic considerations may have come into play, but I believe conditions created by the COVID-19 pandemic may also have had a big impact," said Lee.

"Still, we did not have a meaningless year. Most of all, we maintained very close cooperation (with the US) on Korean Peninsula issues, and as a result, we were able to maintain peace without any serious escalation of tension," he added. (Yonhap)