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Prime Minister Kim Min-seok of South Korea shakes palms with US Vice President JD Vance throughout their assembly in Washington on Jan. 23, 2026. (courtesy of the prime minister’s workplace)
The primary query posed by US Vice President JD Vance in his first assembly with South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok was in regards to the on-line retailer Coupang, Kim reported.
Kim added that he “defined the information” and that the 2 “reached an settlement to handle issues so there aren’t any misunderstandings between our two sides.”
He additionally mentioned that Vance requested recommendation on measures to enhance relations with North Korea, to which Kim proposed sending a particular envoy to the North.
Throughout a briefing on the South Korean Embassy in Washington shortly after his assembly with Vance that day, Kim reported that the US vp had requested for solutions on how you can enhance relations with North Korean chief Kim Jong-un.
“After stating that ‘President Donald Trump is the one particular person with each the need and talent to enhance relations with North Korea,’ I advised that a technique could be for Vance and the US to point out their intention of bettering relations by sending a particular envoy,” he added.
Kim additionally mentioned, “Whereas this was not an event for discussing concrete options to the North Korean nuclear subject, I defined in regards to the common North Korea state of affairs, and Vice President Vance mentioned that it was very useful in establishing his ideas on North Korea points.”
Vance was additional quoted as asking what the “particular subject” was within the present state of affairs with Coupang.
“I defined that giant volumes of South Korean residents’ private data had been leaked and the reporting was delayed by 5 months, and that baseless accusations had been made in opposition to me [as prime minister] within the course of,” Kim mentioned.
Kim additionally mentioned the “full disclosure of assertion data proved that the declare made by Coupang buyers the day earlier than that [he as prime minister] had ordered some kind of discriminatory and intensive investigation in opposition to Coupang was with none foundation in actual fact.”
Kim mentioned he gave a “exact clarification about how there was no discriminatory therapy towards a US enterprise by way of the Coupang subject.”
“In his response, Vice President Vance mentioned he understood the likelihood that there could have been authorized points underneath South Korea’s system,” he added.
On the similar time, Vance was additionally quoted as suggesting that the 2 sides handle the problem in order that it doesn’t escalate into misunderstandings between the 2 sides’ governments, to which Kim promised to share straight information about progress as promptly as attainable.
Vance additionally reportedly requested about Son Hyun-bo, a pastor at Busan’s Segero Church who was arrested and indicted on fees of violating the Public Official Election Act.
“I defined that South Korea is extra stringent than the US in regards to the separation of church and state, and that the matter in query isn’t a spiritual subject however one having to do with an investigation into violations of election regulation,” Kim mentioned.
Equally, the prime minister defined that he had emphasised that the current investigation into the Unification Church was “not a spiritual matter however an investigation into illegal collusion between the church and politics or the state.”
Kim quoted Vance as replying that the state of affairs needs to be managed in a method that avoids misunderstandings whereas respecting South Korea’s system.
Kim said that the assembly “lasted for 50 minutes, which was longer than the anticipated 40 minutes.”
“General, it went comparatively nicely, the place we had the prospect to say what we needed to say and listen to what we needed to listen to from one another,” he concluded.
Additionally attending the assembly that day on the South Korean aspect had been Ambassador to the US Kang Kyung-wha, the vice minister of international affairs, and the international affairs adviser within the Workplace of the Prime Minister. On the US aspect, Andy Baker, the deputy nationwide safety adviser to the vp, was additionally current.
Commenting on the importance of the encounter, Kim mentioned, “I considered the assembly itself as vital within the sense that it was the primary US go to by a [sitting] South Korean prime minister since democratization, and it was my first assembly with the vp, who holds an vital political place within the US at present.”
Explaining that he had “exchanged contact data with Vice President Vance simply after the assembly,” Kim added that the 2 had “agreed to keep up a ‘hotline’ for ongoing communication.”
By Kim Gained-chul, Washington correspondent
Please direct questions or feedback to [english@hani.co.kr]
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