Vice FMs of S. Korea, U.S. discuss alliance modernization, N. Korea

Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-Joo, right, holds hands with his U.S. counterpart, Allison Hooker, U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs, at the headquarters of the foreign ministry in central Seoul, Friday. Joint Press Corps

Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-Joo held talks with his U.S. counterpart, Allison Hooker, on Friday, on the modernization of the bilateral alliance, stronger economic cooperation and North Korean nuclear issues, officials said.

Park held a "strategic dialogue" session with Hooker, U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs, to discuss pending issues ahead of the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, according to the foreign ministry.

It marked the first such vice foreign ministerial talks between the two nations since July 2021.

According to the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, the two sides discussed the importance of modernizing the bilateral alliance and strengthening economic cooperation in such areas as shipbuilding, critical mineral supply chains, energy, and critical and emerging technologies, while also reaffirming the need to deepen trilateral cooperation with Japan.

"They pledged to maintain a unified approach toward the DPRK's destabilizing actions, including through the shared commitment to the complete denuclearization of the DPRK," the embassy said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

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 a strong combined defense posture and the continued assurance of U.S. extended deterrence" to South Korea, the embassy said.

The meeting came ahead of the APEC summit scheduled for Oct. 31-Nov. 1 in the South Korean southeastern city of Gyeongju, where the leaders of the two nations are expected to hold talks on the sidelines.

The U.S. has been pushing to modernize the decades-old alliance in a bid to expand Seoul's defense posture beyond the Korean Peninsula to deter China's threats. It includes readjusting the role and size of U.S. forces stationed in South Korea under a concept known as "strategic flexibility."

Speculation is growing that U.S. President Donald Trump may make a one-day visit to South Korea on Nov. 29 for his talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and leave Gyeongju without attending the APEC summit.