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(Seoul Washington = Yonhap News) Reporter Han Sang-yong, Correspondent Paik Na-ri = US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is confirmed to visit Korea early next month.
A government source said on the 23rd: “I know that Minister Pompeo will visit Korea early next month” and “as of October 7, the 1-night, 2-day schedule is influential.”
Another source explained that “Minister Pompeo is also visiting Korea while visiting Japan to meet with the new Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.”
Authorities in the Republic of Korea and the US are known to be currently coordinating the size and specific schedule of Assistant Minister Pompeo.
Minister Pompeo accompanied President Donald Trump in June last year when he met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at Panmunjeom, and he visited South Korea after the fourth visit to North Korea in October 2018.
During his royal visit to Korea, Secretary Pompeo is expected to hold talks with his counterpart, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-hwa, and prevent President Moon Jae-in.
In particular, the issues of the alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea, including negotiations to share defense costs, are expected to be discussed during the meeting with the foreign ministers.
In addition, it is expected to discuss the situation on the Korean peninsula, including the North Korean nuclear issue, and Korea’s invitation to the G7 summit, which was postponed since the US presidential elections in November.
However, it is known that Minister Pompeo will not meet with the North Korean side during his visit to Korea.
A source said: “It is highly unlikely that Minister Pompeo will meet with North Korean officials during his visit to Korea,” he said. “This visit appears to be aimed at drawing Korea into a conflict between the United States and China.”
From Secretary Pompeo’s perspective, the US is most likely to explain the US position on the increasingly fierce conflict between the US and China and request South Korea’s support.
In particular, it is noteworthy that on the occasion of Minister Pompeo’s visit to Japan, meetings will be held with foreign ministers from four countries, called ‘Quad’, such as the United States, Japan, Australia and India.
Earlier, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported that, citing multiple government sources, the foreign ministers of the four countries could meet in Tokyo in October and that Minister Pompeo will meet with Prime Minister Suga separately.
The United States has suggested that it is necessary to strengthen multilateral cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region as a standard for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), suggesting a quad as a starting point. At the Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting, measures are expected to be sought to strengthen cooperation to contain China.
Kyodo News said, citing government sources, that the foreign ministers of the four countries are likely to reaffirm the importance of maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific.
In line with this, it should be noted that the level of requests to participate in Korea may increase. The last meeting of the foreign ministers of the four countries was the occasion of the UN General Assembly in September last year, the news agency added.
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