Vice FM says stability, peace in Taiwan Strait have direct impact on S. Korea's national interest

A senior foreign ministry official said Sunday that a joint statement adopted after a recent summit between President Moon Jae-in and his US counterpart Joe Biden mentioned the Taiwan Strait to show Seoul's view that the stability and peace in the region are in its national interest.

Moon and Biden held their first face-to-face summit in Washington on Friday (US time) and adopted the statement in which they emphasized "the importance of preserving peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait."

"It represents the two leaders' recognition that maintaining stability and peace in the Taiwan Strait is very important," First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun told a TV show on local broadcaster KBS. "It is the expression of our view that stability and peace in Taiwan also have a direct impact on our national interest."

Asked if it is possible for the US and North Korea to hold a summit, Choi said that it appears to be so, though he noted that it depends on how the newly appointed US nuclear envoy and his North Korean counterpart would draw up a road map of denuclearization steps.

Biden earlier announced his designation of Sung Kim, former US ambassador to Seoul, as its special envoy on North Korea. It was construed as signaling that Washington is ready for dialogue with the North, which has been stalled since a no-deal summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and then US President Donald Trump in early 2019. (Yonhap)