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South Korea and the United States will soon pick a new date for their postponed summit as the two sides have pressing issues to discuss, including North Korea's nuclear weapons program, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said Thursday.
President Park Geun-hye was scheduled to travel to the U.S. last week for talks with U.S. President Barack Obama, but she later put off the trip to bring the recent outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome under control.
Yun was in Washington last week to reschedule the summit, among other things.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Yonhap News Agency, he said the two sides are likely to reach an agreement on a new date soon.
"We took this unavoidable rescheduling measure due to this very exceptional MERS situation, so in a normal rescheduling case, (the summit) would be postponed to next year or even later, but this isn't such a matter and due to the exceptional nature of this matter, we can't delay it for long," he said during the interview at his office.
The new date will largely depend on two factors -- the two leaders' respective schedules and the appropriate time to discuss the items on their agenda, including North Korea, regional issues and cooperation on global issues, the minister said, without elaborating.
His remarks could be seen as a reference to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's upcoming address in August, through which South Korea will be able to gauge Tokyo's sincerity about reconciliation with Seoul over their shared history.
Obama, meanwhile, is set to visit Africa in July and host Chinese President Xi Jinping for a state visit in September.
"All in all, because it was rescheduled due to exceptional reasons, I don't think it will take long to decide on a new date," Yun said. "In that context, if the date is confirmed, I think it will be announced in accordance with diplomatic procedures."
Yun also recalled the conversation he had with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry when he called to explain the reason for the postponement.
"His response was, 'Don't worry about us. Worry about you,'" the minister said. "That left such a deep impression on me. In other words, he was saying they would have taken the same action and step had they been in such a situation."
On the possibility of the U.S. deploying a THAAD missile defense unit in South Korea, he said both of the allies are in internal discussions.
"The U.S. government's internal review has not been completed yet, and our military authorities are also looking into the issue on the working level," he said. "If necessary, there will be additional consultations inside the government."
In the process, he added, South Korea will share related information "adequately" with China and other nations concerned.
He said North Korea seems to have made "considerable progress" in miniaturizing nuclear bombs, although there is a little bit of gap in detailed assessments of the international community. (Yonhap)
President Park Geun-hye was scheduled to travel to the U.S. last week for talks with U.S. President Barack Obama, but she later put off the trip to bring the recent outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome under control.
Yun was in Washington last week to reschedule the summit, among other things.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Yonhap News Agency, he said the two sides are likely to reach an agreement on a new date soon.
"We took this unavoidable rescheduling measure due to this very exceptional MERS situation, so in a normal rescheduling case, (the summit) would be postponed to next year or even later, but this isn't such a matter and due to the exceptional nature of this matter, we can't delay it for long," he said during the interview at his office.
The new date will largely depend on two factors -- the two leaders' respective schedules and the appropriate time to discuss the items on their agenda, including North Korea, regional issues and cooperation on global issues, the minister said, without elaborating.
His remarks could be seen as a reference to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's upcoming address in August, through which South Korea will be able to gauge Tokyo's sincerity about reconciliation with Seoul over their shared history.
Obama, meanwhile, is set to visit Africa in July and host Chinese President Xi Jinping for a state visit in September.
"All in all, because it was rescheduled due to exceptional reasons, I don't think it will take long to decide on a new date," Yun said. "In that context, if the date is confirmed, I think it will be announced in accordance with diplomatic procedures."
Yun also recalled the conversation he had with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry when he called to explain the reason for the postponement.
"His response was, 'Don't worry about us. Worry about you,'" the minister said. "That left such a deep impression on me. In other words, he was saying they would have taken the same action and step had they been in such a situation."
On the possibility of the U.S. deploying a THAAD missile defense unit in South Korea, he said both of the allies are in internal discussions.
"The U.S. government's internal review has not been completed yet, and our military authorities are also looking into the issue on the working level," he said. "If necessary, there will be additional consultations inside the government."
In the process, he added, South Korea will share related information "adequately" with China and other nations concerned.
He said North Korea seems to have made "considerable progress" in miniaturizing nuclear bombs, although there is a little bit of gap in detailed assessments of the international community. (Yonhap)
