US State Department: "Close Coordination on North Korea in ROK-US Foreign Ministers Meeting"

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The U.S. Department of State announced on the 14th that Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo "reaffirmed the continued close coordination between South Korea and the U.S. regarding North Korea."

Morgan Ortagus, spokesperson for the Department of State, stated this in a press release following the Korea-U.S. foreign ministers' meeting held in Palo Alto near San Francisco, USA. He said, "The two ministers highly valued the strength of the Korea-U.S. alliance and reiterated their commitment to cooperation between the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy and South Korea's New Southern Policy."

He added, "The two ministers also discussed the importance of trilateral cooperation among South Korea, the U.S., and Japan, and pledged to continue close cooperation on numerous regional and international issues."

This is interpreted as the U.S. expressing its intention to meaningfully engage in the Korea-Japan conflict through the Korea-U.S.-Japan foreign ministers' meeting held following the Korea-U.S. foreign ministers' meeting.