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Secretary Antony J. Blinken and Republic of Korea Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul Before Their Meeting [ https://www.state.gov/secretary-antony-j-blinken-and-republic-of-korea-minister-of-foreign-affairs-cho-tae-yul-before-their-meeting/ ] 10/31/2024 04:16 PM EDT
Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State
Washington, D.C.
Benjamin Franklin Room
Home [ https://www.state.gov ]Office of the Spokesperson [ https://www.state.gov/bureaus-offices/under-secretary-for-public-diplomacy-and-public-affairs/bureau-of-global-public-affairs/office-of-the-spokesperson/ ]Press Releases [ /press-releases/ ]…Secretary Antony J. Blinken and Republic of Korea Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul Before Their Meeting hide
Secretary Antony J. Blinken and Republic of Korea Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul Before Their Meeting
Remarks
October 31, 2024
*SECRETARY BLINKEN: *Well, good afternoon again, everyone. We had very productive 2+2 discussions this morning and into this afternoon with Secretary Austin and Defense Minister Kim. It’s a reflection of the fact that we have an alliance now in its seventh decade that is not only ironclad in its commitment to our mutual security, but also an alliance and partnership that, as I said earlier, has moved from the bilateral to the regional to the genuinely global. Korea is a global, critical power.
We’re going to address together now that broader agenda. We focused intensely this morning in particular on DPRK, on the relationship between DPRK and Russia and other aspects of the challenges we face, as well as on our defense and security partnership, but we now have an opportunity with my friend Tae-yul to address other elements of the broad agenda between the United States and the Republic of Korea.
I would just note again something we touched on earlier: The economic partnership, the relationship between our countries that’s making a practical and profound difference in the lives of our fellow citizens, could not be stronger. The Republic of Korea is the largest provider of foreign direct investment in the United States, including tens of thousands of jobs. And that is, as I said earlier, very powerful evidence of the confidence that Korea has in the United States and our future – just as we are the second largest investor in Korea, evidence again of the confidence that we have in the future between our countries. So we’ll be talking about that, the work we’re doing together on emerging technologies, and so many other things.
So, Tae-yul, it’s wonderful to have you here today and have the opportunity for us to speak after the 2+2.
*FOREIGN MINISTER CHO:* Thank you, Tony, and good afternoon. Well, Secretary Blinken and I just finished our in-depth discussions at the 2+2 meeting this morning and over lunch, where we covered a wide range of issues of common interest. As we both emphasized during the joint press conference just completed, we condemn the deepening North Korea-Russia military cooperation, especially the recent deployment of North Korean troops to Russia and North Korea’s repeated provocative actions, including its ICBM test launch yesterday. We also reconfirmed our commitment to the denuclearization of North Korea and the U.S. commitment to the defense of the Republic of Korea under any circumstances.
Well, at the meeting this afternoon with Secretary Blinken, we will have more focused discussions on the selected issues and priorities as a follow-up to the 2+2 meeting. In fact, since I took office in January this year, I have met with Secretary Blinken more than 10 times in bilateral, trilateral, and multilateral settings. The frequency of our meeting itself, I think, represents the strength of our strong alliance, our seamless coordination on all policies and actions, and our commitment to reach a shared goal.
So I am quite content that I will have another round of fruitful discussions at today’s meeting while taking stock of the progress we have made so far, and addressing any outstanding tasks ahead, and reaching all common agreement on policies and actions – 100 percent alignment on each and every front.
Thank you very much.
*SECRETARY BLINKEN:* Thank you. Thanks, everyone.
Tags
Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs [ https://www.state.gov/bureaus-offices/under-secretary-for-political-affairs/bureau-of-east-asian-and-pacific-affairs/ ] Defense [ https://www.state.gov/subjects/defense/ ] Office of the Spokesperson [ https://www.state.gov/bureaus-offices/under-secretary-for-public-diplomacy-and-public-affairs/bureau-of-global-public-affairs/office-of-the-spokesperson/ ] The Secretary of State [ https://www.state.gov/secretary/ ] South Korea [ https://www.state.gov/countries-areas/south-korea/ ] body { font-size: 1em; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; color: #333333; } ________________________________________________________________________
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