South Korea and the United States agreed Thursday on the need to work together to ensure that their joint summit agreements on trade and security are implemented in a “balanced” manner, rather than prioritizing certain areas, a Seoul official said.
A senior foreign ministry official made the remarks following the meeting between Deputy Foreign Minister Chung Eui-hae and Michael DeSombre, US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs.
DeSombre, who took office as the top diplomat for East Asia policy in October last year, was visiting South Korea on his first official trip in the current capacity.
“We shared the view that while not all elements (in the agreements) can move forward at exactly the same pace, they should be implemented in a balanced manner, mutually propelling each other and broadly keeping pace,” the official told reporters.
“(We shared the understanding that) it would not be desirable for the process to appear skewed to one side or for any single element to be seen as holding up the overall implementation,” she said.
