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Clinton, Yu speak over phone
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January 24, 2009
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South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan had his first official conversation with new U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over the phone yesterday. During the 10-minute talk between the United States and Australia, where Yu was attending a ministerial meeting, the two top diplomats agreed to organize a presidential summit soon to discuss pressing issues on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia, according to the Foreign Ministry yesterday.
Yu and Clinton spoke from 8:35 to 8:45 yesterday morning as part of a series of courtesy calls Clinton made with top diplomats. The former first lady was officially sworn in as the 67th U.S. secretary of state on Wednesday in Washington.
During the talk, Yu expressed his hope that the two nations maintain close coordination in tackling regional issues such as the denuclearization of North Korea, the economic crisis and upgrading the new strategic alliance between the two countries.
There are some daunting diplomatic hurdles ahead, such as how to break the deadlock in the North’s denuclearization process, how to get congressional ratification of the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement, and how to complete the transfer of wartime operational control from the U.S. to Korea.
By Jung Ha-won Staff Reporter [hawon@joongang.co.kr] |
