U.S., S. Korean officials: No
difference
in assessment of N. Korean threat
Stars
and Stripes
B.R. Sargent / Stars and Stripes
Gen. Lee Jong-ok, South Korean deputy commander in chief, and Gen. Thomas A. Schwartz,
commander in chief, U.N. Command, Combined Forces Command and United States Forces Korea,
look on as the Honorable Kim Dong-shin, Korea's new minister of national defense, signs
the USFK distinguished visitors book Friday. |
There is no difference between U.S.
and South Korean assessments of the North Korean military threat, officials announced
Thursday.
U.S. Charge d’ Affaires Evans
Revere and Gen. Thomas A. Schwartz, the top U.S. commander in South Korea, attended the
meeting with South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Han Seung-soo and Defense
Minister Kim Dong-shin in Seoul.
Such meetings have been held
generally each quarter since 1995.
This was the first such meeting
held since Han and Kim assumed their posts in a cabinet reshuffling last month.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman said
Han told the two U.S. officials he hopes Washington will end its hiatus on talks with
Pyongyang soon so they can resume improving relations between the two Koreas.
He said the officials also
discussed recent revisions to the ROK-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement and pledged
cooperation in negotiating details of some of those revisions.
The spokesman also said the U.S.
officials thanked Han and Kim for assistance the South Korean government gave in securing
the release of the crew of the surveillance plane that landed on China’s Hainan
Island early this month.
Han said in a recent interview that
Seoul had provided assistance, but the ministry has refused to divulge exactly how.
Back to April's stories
Page Two news roundup
Stories from March, 2001
Stories from February,2001
Stories from January, 2001
Stories from December, 2000
Stories from November, 2000
Stories from October, 2000
Stories from August and September, 2000
Stories from June and July, 2000
Home |
