PM calls for follow-up steps on 'unprecedented' summit deal with US

South Korea's prime minister on Tuesday instructed the Cabinet to make thorough efforts in preparing follow-up measures to the agreement reached in last week's summit between South Korea and the United States, saying the summit produced "never-before-seen" outcomes.

On Friday, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his US counterpart, Joe Biden, held their first face-to-face summit in Washington and agreed on a wide range of issues, including a vision to pursue a global COVID-19 vaccine partnership while reaffirming their commitment to dialogue with North Korea.

"I ask that the Cabinet make full preparations to implement follow-up steps on the latest summit, which produced unprecedented results," Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said during a weekly Cabinet meeting held at the government complex in Seoul.

Kim in particular called for the swift launch of a high-level South Korea-US vaccine experts' working group to explore future bilateral vaccine cooperation.

The government is considering launching an interagency team to discuss ways to work together with the US to implement deals on vaccines and partnerships in high-tech industries, such as semiconductors and large capacity batteries, as agreed by the two sides.

"Complementary investments and bilateral cooperation in areas of cutting-edge technologies, such as semiconductors and batteries, will not only provide new growth opportunities to big companies but also small and medium-sized partnership firms," Kim said.

The prime minister also lauded the agreement to terminate the 42-year-old missile guidelines that ban South Korea from developing or possessing ballistic missiles with a maximum range greater than 800 kilometers.

"The agreement has paved the way not only for the growth of our defense capabilities but also for our space industry, such as the ability to develop space launch vehicles," Kim said. (Yonhap)