Foreign ministser calls for close cooperation with incoming Biden gov't for peninsula peace

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha speaks during a National Assembly meeting in this photo taken on Dec. 2. / Korea Times photo by Oh Dae-geun

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha called Tuesday for close cooperation with the incoming U.S. administration of Joe Biden to make headway in efforts for a lasting peace on the peninsula by building on "meaningful progress" over the last four years.

Kang made the call during a meeting of government officials and scholars, which was organized to discuss a policy direction that would guide cooperation with the incoming U.S. government set to be launched on Wednesday (Washington time).

"Over the last four years, South Korea and the United States have achieved meaningful progress in terms of the efforts toward the denuclearization and the establishment of a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula based on close bilateral cooperation," Kang said.

"By continuing accumulated achievements and lessons and through close cooperation with the (incoming) Biden administration, we will make much more progress going forward," she added.

Seoul seeks to cement cooperation with the incoming Washington government to resume dialogue with Pyongyang based on the recognition of the agreement from the first-ever summit between the U.S. and the North in Singapore in 2018.

Under the agreement, President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreed to seek to build new bilateral ties, make joint efforts to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the peninsula and work toward the complete denuclearization of the peninsula.

But uncertainty hangs over whether Biden will stick to that agreement amid expectations that his administration will take a different approach from Trump's unorthodox brand of diplomacy with the North.

The foreign minister also stressed Seoul's intention to "expand the horizons" of cooperation in the bilateral alliance with the U.S. to help tackle global challenges ranging from pandemic responses to climate change.

"Especially, cooperation between the South and the U.S. can achieve a great synergy in the area of public health," she said. "Climate change is also an urgent issue and common global threat, and it's an area in which the South and the U.S. can explore active bilateral cooperation."

(Yonhap)