reaffirm

SEOUL, Aug. 1 (UPI) — The top diplomats of the United States and South Korea reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearization of North Korea and the enforcement of international sanctions against Pyongyang during a meeting in Washington on Thursday, both governments said.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun held their first talks since the election of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung last month. Their meeting took place one day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a tariff deal with Seoul and said that he would host a summit with Lee at the White House within two weeks.

The two diplomats “reaffirmed their resolute commitment to the complete denuclearization of the DPRK [and] the full implementation of international sanctions,” State Dept. spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said in a readout Thursday.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is the official name of North Korea.

They also “expressed serious concerns about North Korea’s increasing military cooperation with Russia,” Bruce said.

North Korea has deployed troops, artillery and weapons to Russia to aid in Moscow’s war against Ukraine, and is believed to be receiving much-needed financial support and advanced military technology for its own weapons programs in return.

The diplomats “both welcomed the announcement of a full and complete trade deal and the forthcoming visit of ROK President Lee Jae Myung to Washington,” Bruce added, using the official acronym for South Korea.

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry issued a readout of the meeting on Friday, saying Rubio and Cho “agreed to maintain a robust combined defense posture and firmly uphold the goal of North Korea’s complete denuclearization.”

Cho also revisited President Lee’s invitation for Trump to attend the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, which will be held in Gyeongju from Oct. 31 to Nov. 1. Rubio said Washington “is well aware of this and will actively consider it,” according to the ministry.

On Tuesday, North Korea dismissed the notion of engaging in nuclear negotiations with President Trump.

“Any attempt to deny the position of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state … will be thoroughly rejected,” Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said in a statement carried by official media.

“The recognition of the irreversible position of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state … should be a prerequisite for predicting and thinking everything in the future,” she said

June 7 (UPI) — South Korea’s President Lee Jae-myung spoke for the first time with U.S. President Donald Trump late Friday as both leaders agreed to further strengthen their nations’ alliance.

Lee, who took office Wednesday, talked with Trump in a 20-minute phone call, according to the presidential office of South Korea.

The White House has not confirmed the conversation, and the president, who is in New Jersey this weekend, hasn’t posted about the call on Truth Social.

The two presidents agreed to strive toward reaching a mutually acceptable trade agreement, including on tariffs.

Trump has imposed 10% baseline tariffs on most trading partners. On April 2, Trump said the Republic of Korea would face a 49% duty but one week later he paused it for three months along with the other worst offenders in the trade imbalance.

South Korea’s tariffs on imported agricultural goods average 54%.

Trump congratulated Lee on his election victory, and the new leader expressed his gratitude, according to the office.

Lee noted the importance of the alliance, which forms the foundation of Seoul’s diplomacy.

The phone call was “conducted in a friendly and candid atmosphere,” as they shared anecdotes and experiences from their election campaigns, according to South Korea’s presidential office.

They exchanged views on their assassination attempts last year and political challenges, in addition to discussing their their golf skills and agreed to play a round together.

Trump invited Lee to the White House and the Group of Seven summit in Alberta, Canada, from June 15-17.

South Korea is not a G7 member state, but the nation attended them group’s meetings in 2021 and 2023. Korea’s neighbor, Japan, is a member of the G7.

Yonhap reported the South Korea government is in consultations for Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Chinese President Xi Jinping to speak to their leader.

It has not been decided whether Lee will attend the North Atlantic Treaty Organization leaders’ summit in the Netherlands on June 24 and 25, according to the presidential office.

Lee, the Democratic Party liberal candidate, won in a landslide over Kim Moon-soo of the conservative People Power Party. He was inaugurated the next day on Wednesday.

South Koreans turned out in record numbers in a snap election triggered by the impeachment and removal of Yoon Suk Yeol in April after a botched martial law decree.

Some 35.24 million voters cast a ballot, representing a turnout of 79.4% — the highest mark since an 80.7% turnout in 1997.