A briefing was held at the Yongsan Presidential Office earlier. It was about the phone call between President Yoon Suk-yeol and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. Let’s listen in.
[Kim Tae-hyo / First Deputy Director of the National Security Office]
President Yoon Suk-yeol had a phone conversation with President-elect Donald Trump starting at 7:59 for about 12 minutes. Firstly, President Yoon sincerely congratulated President-elect Trump on his major victory with the MAGA slogan. In response, President Trump expressed his gratitude and extended special regards to the Korean people.
Our president also extended congratulations to President Trump, hoping that under Trump’s leadership, the U.S. would become great again. The two leaders continued their conversation about trilateral cooperation between South Korea, the U.S., and Japan. They acknowledged that this cooperation has become more robust over time, and the establishment of the Camp David trilateral cooperation system was possible partly due to the foundation laid during Trump’s first term. President Yoon evaluated it as a substantial contribution by President Trump.
President Yoon proposed that the South Korea-U.S. alliance continue as a close partnership encompassing security, economy, and all other areas, to which President Trump-elect also gladly looked forward to maintaining strong cooperative relations. The two countries expressed their intention to build joint leadership in the Asia-Pacific region, the Korean peninsula, and on a global level.
President Trump mentioned hearing favorable things about President Yoon’s leadership and commented that the U.S. shipbuilding industry would need Korea’s help and cooperation. Acknowledging Korea’s world-class shipbuilding and navy ship capabilities, he emphasized the need for close cooperation not only in exporting ships but also in repair, maintenance, and refurbishment. He expressed a desire to discuss this topic in more detail with President Yoon in the future.
The leaders discussed the situation in North Korea in detail, exchanging views on the military dynamics as North Korea deploys to Ukraine. They shared concerns about the urgent military situation in Ukraine. The increasing nuclear capability of North Korea, ICBM launches, ongoing ballistic missile provocations, balloon drop operations against us, and GPS interference threatening our ships, civilians, and aviation safety in the West Sea were topics where both sides shared and expressed concern.
They agreed on the necessity to meet in person for more detailed discussions on all these issues and agreed to set a date and place for a meeting between President Yoon and President Trump soon. We will continue the conversation in the future. Thank you.
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