The agreement came after government delegations from the two countries held a launch meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul from Tuesday to Wednesday to begin implementing security-related commitments included in a joint fact sheet issued after last year’s summit between the two leaders.
A Foreign Ministry official said the review system is aimed at assessing the progress of negotiations at certain points and identifying issues that require further discussion.
“When the time comes, the two sides will review and evaluate the progress made up to that point,” the official told reporters. “They will then identify areas that need more discussion and reflect them in the next round of negotiations.”
The move appears to reflect Seoul’s push to make as much progress as possible before political uncertainty grows in Washington, where the ruling Republican Party faces the possibility of losing control of Congress in the November midterm elections.
Park described the launch meeting as successful and said U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Allison Hooker, who led the U.S. delegation, had expressed the same view.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Hooker called her trip to Seoul “a brief but very productive visit,” saying the two sides’ initial discussions on U.S.-ROK nuclear cooperation were “a success” and had set the stage for “continued technical conversations.”
Hooker also wrote that in meetings with South Korean officials, she emphasized the need for the two allies to stay aligned on issues ranging from freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz to strengthening critical supply chains and responding to regional threats.
Asked whether the U.S. side raised South Korea’s possible participation in efforts related to the Strait of Hormuz or its role in countering China in the Indo-Pacific, Park said such issues were not discussed during the security negotiations.
He added that Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and Hooker had broadly discussed issues related to the Korean Peninsula and the Middle East during a breakfast meeting. But he said specific matters, such as South Korea’s participation in a U.S.-led maritime security initiative, were not discussed in detail.
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