Senior U.S. government officials handling Korean affairs arrived in Seoul Sunday to discuss ways to beef up the alliance between the two countries and other pending issues such as North Korea, Seoul officials said.
Assistant Deputy Secretary of State Daniel Russel and Assistant Deputy Secretary of Defense David Shear flied into Seoul late Sunday for a three-day visit before heading to Japan, officials said.
The trip comes after a North Korean military-party delegation met South Korean high-ranking officials on Saturday on a rare one-day visit to the South.
Seoul officials said that they and U.S. officials are likely to exchange views about the outcome of the recent talks with the North’s delegation and their North Korean policy.
During the visit to Seoul, the U.S. officials are expected to brief their South Korean counterparts on their ongoing discussions to revise defense cooperation guidelines with Tokyo in line with Japan’s move to increase the role of its military, Seoul officials added.
An interim report on the defense guidelines is likely to come out next week.
Japan has irked its neighboring countries by reinterpreting its war-renouncing Constitution to exercise the right of collective self-defense. It marks a major shift in Japan’s postwar security policy by allowing Japan to fight alongside its allies even when not under attack itself.
South Korea has said that Japan should seek explicit consent from Seoul if it wishes to exercise such a right in cases of emergency situations related to security on the Korean Peninsula.
Seoul and Washington are also likely to discuss the main agenda for the annual Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) to be held in late October, officials said.
Shear said Friday that the U.S. and South Korea are taking a “conditions-based approach” to the issue of delaying the planned transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) of South Korean forces from Washington to Seoul.
South Korea handed over control of its forces to the U.S. during the 1950-53 Korean War to defend against invading troops from North Korea. Peacetime control of its forces was returned in 1994, and South Korea is scheduled to get back operational control in the event of war in December 2015.
But last year, Seoul asked for another delay in the OPCON transfer following the North’s nuclear test in February 2013, saying that the security situation on the peninsula was markedly different from when the transfer was agreed upon a few years ago.
Shear and Russel are expected to discuss issues including preparations to hold a “two plus two” meeting of the foreign and defense ministers of the two countries, Seoul officials added. (Yonhap)
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State and Defense visits Korea… North Korean delegation discusses results of visit to South Korea
Daniel Russell, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, and David Shea, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asia and Pacific Affairs, visited Korea on the afternoon of the 5th.
Those who visited Korea before visiting Japan to discuss the revision of the US-Japan Defense Cooperation Guidelines will visit the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building on the morning of the 6th, meet with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Lee Kyung-soo, and then pay a courtesy call on Minister of Foreign Affairs Yoon Byung-se.
It is reported that Assistant Secretary Shea plans to visit the Yongsan Ministry of National Defense building this afternoon to pay a courtesy call on Minister of National Defense Han Min-koo and meet separately with Ministry of National Defense officials. It is reported that Curtis Scaparrotti, commander of the ROK-US Combined Forces Command, is also scheduled to attend the meeting with Ministry of Defense officials.
The two countries will discuss pending issues of the ROK-U.S. alliance, bilateral issues, regional and international issues, etc. in a series of consultations.
In particular, given that North Korea’s highest-ranking figures, including Military General Political Bureau Director Hwang Byeong-seo, visited South Korea on the 4th, the two countries are expected to exchange opinions on the results of North Korea’s top-ranking officials’ visit to South Korea and coordinate policies toward North Korea.
In response to the restoration of inter-Korean dialogue, including the decision to resume secondary high-level contacts by meeting the highest-ranking officials of the two Koreas, the U.S. State Department briefly stated, “We support the improvement of inter-Korean relations.”
South Korea and the United States will also discuss the issue of revising U.S.-Japan guidelines related to Japan’s exercise of the right to collective self-defense. The U.S. and Japan are expected to announce an interim report on the guidelines soon, and the U.S. is expected to provide a preliminary explanation on this and Korea to reveal its position on it.
The government has been emphasizing its position that, in relation to Japan’s exercise of the right to collective self-defense, matters that affect the security of the Korean Peninsula and our national interests cannot be tolerated without our request or consent.
The two countries are expected to also discuss issues related to the ROK-U.S. Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) to be held in the U.S. later this month. The two sides aim to reach a final agreement on the conditions and timing for the transfer of wartime operational control at this SCM.
In addition, the two sides plan to discuss the agenda of the ‘2+2 meeting’, a consultative body of foreign affairs and defense ministers. Both sides are pursuing a plan to hold a 2+2 meeting following the SCM.
Assistant Secretary Russell met with reporters at the airport that day and said, “This visit is an extension of the ongoing consultations between Korea and the United States,” and “I look forward to dialogue and consultation (on various issues) with various Korean officials.”
It is reported that Assistant Secretary Russell and Assistant Secretary Shea will depart for Japan on the 6th and 7th, respectively. (Yonhap News)
