Seoul: Senior diplomats from South Korea and the United States convened on Friday to deliberate on modernizing their bilateral alliance, addressing North Korean nuclear concerns, enhancing economic cooperation, and resolving visa issues, as announced by Seoul's foreign ministry. Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-Joo engaged in a "strategic dialogue" with U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Allison Hooker ahead of the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
According to Yonhap News Agency, this meeting marked the first vice-ministerial talks between the two nations since July 2021. During the dialogue, Park and Hooker committed to closely aligning their North Korea-related policies, emphasizing the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. They acknowledged the importance of trilateral cooperation among South Korea, the U.S., and Japan for regional peace and stability, agreeing to advance this collaboration.
The discussions also highlighted expanding cooperation in security, economic domains, advanced technologies, and people-to-people exchanges. The diplomats praised the outcomes of the inaugural visa working group meeting held last month, which included creating a dedicated desk at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul and effectively utilizing B-1 short-term business visas. They agreed to continue consultations to achieve concrete results.
Hooker emphasized the value of Korean investments in the U.S. and assured that efforts would persist to enable stable investment activities for South Korean nationals. The visa issue gained prominence after over 310 Korean workers were detained during a U.S. immigration raid at a battery plant construction site in Georgia on September 4, later released.
According to a press release by the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, both parties "pledged to maintain a unified approach toward the DPRK's destabilizing actions, including through the shared commitment to the complete denuclearization of the DPRK." Hooker described the Seoul-Washington alliance as "the linchpin of peace, security and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and across the Indo-Pacific," reaffirming the U.S.' commitment to strengthening the relationship through defense and deterrence assurances.
The meeting precedes the APEC summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, on Oct. 31-Nov. 1, where leaders from both nations are expected to engage in discussions. The U.S. is advocating for a modernization of the longstanding alliance to bolster Seoul's defense posture beyond the Korean Peninsula, particularly against China's threats, under the concept of "strategic flexibility."
Speculation suggests that U.S. President Donald Trump might visit South Korea on Nov. 29 for discussions with Chinese President Xi Jinping, potentially bypassing the APEC summit in Gyeongju.