폼페이오 만난 서훈 "종전선언, 항상 논의 대상...한미 이견 없어"
According to South Korea's National Security Advisor Suh Hoon, who met Thursday in Washington with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo,... there is no difference of opinion between the U.S. and South Korea on the issue of declaring a formal end to the Korean War.
This comes after President Moon Jae-in recently proposed a peace declaration for the war that ended in 1953 with an armistice
Kim Min-ji reports.
A declaration to formally end the Korean War was always on the negotiating table and part of the denuclearization process.
That's according to South Korea's National Security Advisor Suh Hoon following talks with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington on Thursday.
Speaking to reporters, Suh said there's no difference of opinion between Seoul and Washington on the matter.
"The issue was always on the negotiating table. There exists no difference of opinion between South Korea and the U.S."
The Korean war ended in 1953 but only with an armistice, and giving it a formal end has been a key goal of the Moon Jae-in administration.
Suh said the issue is about which stage in the process it should happen,.. and how closely linked it should be to North Korea's denuclearization.
His comments are likely in reference to claims that South Korea is seeking to declare an end to the Korean War regardless of progress on denuclearization talks following President Moon's recent repeated calls for an end-of-war declaration.
Separately, Ko Yun-ju,... head of the North American affairs bureau at Seoul's foreign ministry met in Washington with Marc Knapper deputy assistant secretary of state for Korea and Japan.
The two officials reaffirmed the firmness of the South Korea-U.S. alliance and discussed bilateral cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region.
They also exchanged opinions on the so-called "Alliance Dialogue" a new bilateral consultation body between the allies.
These visits are latest in a string of trips by top South Korean officials to Washington.
But with the U.S. presidential election less than three weeks away,... experts don't see the visits as a means to create a big turnaround in terms of rekindling diplomacy on the Peninsula,... but rather to keep Seoul and Pyeongyang on the agenda.
The visits are seen as an attempt to maintain U.S. interest in North Korea... at a time when Korean Peninsula issues are not high on Washington's agenda especially with not much time left before the election. In regards to the end-of-war declaration, the two sides will be able to discuss the issue in principle, but they will have to first agree on where it is placed on the denuclearization roadmap.
South Korea's national security advisor also said Seoul-Washington relations must be maintained regardless of the presidential election,... and that issues regarding inter-Korean ties will be discussed with the U.S. and neighboring countries.
Kim Min-ji, Arirang News.
