US-Korea High-Level Economic Consultations Director-General Meeting... Discussions on New Southern Policy and Indo-Pacific Strategy Linkage Cooperation

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] On the morning of the 25th, Yang Dong-han, Director General of the Bilateral Economic Diplomacy Bureau at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, held a video conference with David Meale, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Trade Policy Negotiations at the U.S. Department of State, and Mark Napier, Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, to conduct a Korea-U.S. Senior Economic Dialogue (SED) director-level meeting and discuss cooperation linking the New Southern Policy and the Indo-Pacific Strategy.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that this video conference was held as part of preparations for the 5th Senior Economic Dialogue scheduled for the second half of this year. The Korean chief representative for the Senior Economic Dialogue is Lee Tae-ho, 2nd Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the U.S. chief representative is Keith Krach, Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment.

At this director-level meeting, both sides exchanged views on cooperation in health and economic sectors to respond to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the current status of linkage cooperation between the New Southern Policy and the Indo-Pacific Strategy pursued by both countries, economic empowerment of women, ways to enhance global cooperation on environmental issues, and plans for preparing the 5th Senior Economic Dialogue.

Additionally, both sides evaluated the importance of the economic cooperation relationship between the two countries, which is a core pillar of the Korea-U.S. alliance during the COVID-19 response process, and agreed to closely cooperate at bilateral and multilateral levels to recover the global economy, which has been stagnated due to COVID-19.

Furthermore, both sides discussed ways to strengthen practical cooperation in areas such as development, infrastructure, and digital sectors, and agreed to continue enhancing cooperation in the field of women's economic empowerment.

Meanwhile, earlier on the 5th, Keith Krach, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, had a phone call with Lee Tae-ho, 2nd Vice Minister, during which he explained various international economic issues of interest to the U.S., including the Economic Prosperity Network (EPN), an anti-China economic bloc concept.

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