U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific affairs, David Stilwell, is in Seoul for a series of meetings with South Korean officials.
His visit has drawn more attention than it might normally do.... as a joint military intel-sharing pact between Seoul and Tokyo is set to lapse within weeks and it's a pact Washington wants extended.
For more, we have our Kim Min-ji on the line.
Min-ji, we hear Stilwell has already met with officials at the foreign ministry?
That's right. First up for the Assistant Secretary of State was a meeting this morning with Seoul's foreign minister and vice foreign minister.
While not much about that meeting is known yet,... Stilwell told reporters that key issues in their bilateral relationship were discussed.
He stressed the U.S. sees the meeting between President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as an encouraging sign.
If you recall,... Moon and Abe had a roughly 10-minute conversation on the sidelines of ASEAN meetings in Bangkok a couple of days back.
Stilwell also emphasized that the South Korea-U.S. alliance is the linchpin of peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region.
A lot of attention is on the message he will deliver regarding Seoul's decision to pull out of GSOMIA, the intel-sharing pact with Tokyo.
In August, Seoul decided not to extend the pact... in response to Japan's economic retaliation over a court ruling ordering Japanese firms to compensate South Korean victims of Japan's wartime forced labor.
During his three-day visit.... Stilwell will also hold talks with officials from the presidential office and the defense ministry.
Upon his arrival last night,... Stilwell said he hopes to have productive talks... and reaffirm the strong alliance that he called the cornerstone of regional security.
Back to you.
