The nation's top diplomat held a press briefing today, which also happens to be the 1 year
anniversary of her inauguration.
Most of the questions centered around North Korea including the recent historic summit.
Lee Ji-won has the highlights from that session.
On the one-year anniversary of her taking office, South Korea's foreign minister, Kang
Kyung-wha, spoke to ministry correspondents on Monday.
Following the series of diplomatic events last week, the heated topic was obviously,...
the results of the North Korea-U.S. summit.
Minister Kang said the framework for further developing ties with Pyongyang has been established
and that the foreign ministry will use the momentum to achieve denuclearization and permanent
peace on the Peninsula,... including the declaration of the end of the Korean War.
"Our government hopes to achieve this by the end of this year.
We are working closely with the U.S. on this.
That is written in the Panmunjom Declaration signed between the two Koreas in April.
And with the North and the U.S. reaffirming that declaration in their joint statement,
we see a willingness from those two to realize this as well."
Mentioning her talks with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier in the morning,
Minister Kang said the two countries' airtight cooperation will continue.
"Once the U.S. forms a North Korea negotiating team, we plan to hold these high-level talks,
along with diplomatic working-level talks... to delve deeper into North Korea's denuclearization
and achieving peace on the Korean Peninsula more technically and concretely."
Minister Kang said she and Secretary Pompeo exchanged details about Pompeo's visit to
China... and the first meeting between generals from the two Koreas in over a decade.
She also said that Pompeo was determined to carry out the follow-up measures in America's
agreement with the North "speedily,"... but that the specific steps for what seemed to
be an imminent phone call between the North and the U.S. have not been taken yet.
Trump hinted last week that he'd call North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Sunday,..
U.S. local time,... after the two exchanged numbers during their summit.
When asked about President Trump's comments about Seoul and Tokyo paying for North Korea's
denuclearization, Kang said it's thought that all stakeholders will and should contribute
in various ways, including sharing their experience and capabilities.
Other diplomatic concerns were also mentioned, including the issue of Japan's sexual enslavement
of Korean women during the Second World War, and the widely disputed 2015 deal on the matter.
Without a formal apology by the Japanese government for its wartime atrocity,... the deal has
been long stalled and Minister Kang said efforts are being made to return the one billion yen,
or roughly 8 million U.S. dollars, from a fund created by the Japanese government for
the victims.
She added that by the end of this month, her ministry will announce its plans to raise
the comfort women issue... as a grave human rights concern for the world.
"Minister Kang also laid out some of her plans for innovation at the ministry to boost efficiency
and better support the new era of peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula.
Through means like increasing the number of working-level officials, the minister said
she hopes to create a competent foreign affairs ministry trusted by the people.
Lee Jiwon, Arirang News."
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