Top diplomats of S. Korea, US reassure peaceful resolution of N. Korean nuke issue

Published : Dec 29, 2017 - 16:31 Updated : Dec 29, 2017 - 16:31

The top diplomats of South Korea and the United States held a telephone conversation Friday to mark the end of the year and committed continued close cooperation in 2018 for a peaceful and diplomatic resolution of North Korea's nuclear issue, the foreign ministry said.

In the 20-minute conversation, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reaffirmed that their countries' collaboration and alliance grows stronger than ever as they strive to deal with North Korea's nuclear and missile programs, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Tillerson stressed the importance of the trilateral cooperation involving Japan in resolving the North Korean nuclear issue, possibly a reference to the icy Seoul-Tokyo relationship following the Moon Jae-in government's recent conclusion that their 2015 agreement on Japan's wartime atrocity on Koreans was flawed.

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha (Yonhap)

Kang shared Tillerson's understanding and stressed that South Korea-Japan cooperation in security and economy will be pursued in a stable manner despite their feuds over history, the ministry said.

Kang also confirmed her participation in a foreign ministers' meeting in Vancouver on Jan. 16, which the US will co-host, in order to reaffirm solidarity against North Korea's nuclear and missile programs. The meeting will bring together top diplomats of the countries that sent their troops to fight for the South in the 1950-53 Korean War.