Foreign Minister Cho meets US lawmakers, urges support for alliance cooperation and summit commitments

Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, currently on a US visit, met with senior members of both chambers of Congress on Thursday (local time), urging their active support for the swift implementation of the joint fact sheet from the South Korea-US summit while stressing the importance of bilateral cooperation amid rapidly shifting global conditions.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cho held separate meetings with Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tennessee), House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-New York), exchanging views on the South Korea-US relationship, the Korean Peninsula and regional affairs.

Hagerty said the South Korean government was actively working to strengthen trilateral cooperation among South Korea, the United States and Japan on the foundation of a solid alliance. He noted that South Korea had built the alliance on a mutually beneficial basis through remarkable economic growth, and said he would continue to play his part as a firm supporter of the alliance — including backing Korean companies operating in his home state of Tennessee.

Jordan agreed on the need for cooperation to advance the bilateral relationship, saying outstanding issues between the two countries should be managed smoothly on the basis of mutual trust. He proposed maintaining ongoing communication to ensure the relationship develops in a mutually beneficial direction.

Meeks said it was important for South Korea and the United States to work closely together to build peace on the Korean Peninsula on the basis of firm mutual trust, and to pool their wisdom in addressing the diverse challenges facing the international community. He also proposed consulting on ways Congress could support broader bilateral cooperation, drawing on bipartisan backing for the alliance within the legislature.

Cho called for strengthening the alliance through active engagement not only with the US administration but also with Congress, and asked lawmakers to demonstrate unwavering support for the alliance even after the November midterm elections.

Cho is scheduled to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday (local time). The talks are expected to cover major issues including South Korea's investment projects in the United States and the question of a troop deployment to the Strait of Hormuz.