DP chief says S. Korea-US relations pick up momentum for 'complete change' through summit

The ruling party chairman on Monday hailed the outcome of the recent South Korea-United States summit, assessing that the bilateral relationship picked up momentum for a "complete change."

"I evaluate that the Korea-US relationship has (gained) momentum for a complete change, qualitatively unprecedented in the past. It has, in other words, entered into a strategic tipping point," Rep. Song Young-gil, who leads the Democratic Party (DP), said in a meeting of the supreme party council.

"In all categories, including security and the economy, (the summit) reaped a huge outcome," the ruling party leader noted.

President Moon Jae-in returned home late Sunday following his five-day trip for summit talks with US President Joe Biden in Washington.

A bilateral vaccine partnership, as well as a US pledge to provide South Korea with coronavirus vaccines, was announced as the results of the summit, while a group of South Korean conglomerates unveiled plans to invest a combined $39.4 billion in the US

Biden also appointed Sung Kim, a veteran Korean American diplomat, as a special envoy on North Korea in a move widely seen as representing Washington's message to Pyongyang that it is ready for dialogue.

Song underlined that the "surprise" appointment of Kim represents the Biden administration's "vigorous willingness to accelerate North Korea policy with a focus on diplomatic means."

"The Biden government's consistent message is that it is gearing up for dialogue with North Korea," he stressed.

He also noted that the two leaders agreed to pursue diplomatic dialogue with North Korea, based on the Panmunjom Declaration signed in 2018 between the leaders of the two Koreas, as well as the joint statement signed between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and ex-US President Donald Trump in Singapore in 2018.

"On the North Korea policy front, the best (possible) result has been produced," Song said, pledging to cooperate closely with the government on the issue of having the 2018 inter-Korean declaration ratified by the National Assembly.

The DP chairman also praised the abolition of restrictions on South Korea's missile development, agreed upon during the summit, as "groundbreaking progress" in the country's efforts to strengthen its defense. (Yonhap)