President Moon's First Call with Biden... "Confirmed Strong Commitment to ROK-US Alliance and Korean Peace"

President Moon Jae-in is having his first phone call with President-elect Joe Biden of the United States on the morning of the 12th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Son Sun-hee] On the 12th, President Moon Jae-in had his first phone call with President-elect Joe Biden of the United States and said, "I was able to confirm the President-elect's firm commitment to a strong Korea-US alliance and a peaceful and prosperous Korean Peninsula." Furthermore, they agreed to meet as soon as possible after Biden's official inauguration to have a direct conversation. This call took place just four days after Biden secured his victory in the presidential election on the 8th.

President Moon made the call at 9 a.m. in the Blue House's residence reception room, speaking with President-elect Biden for about 14 minutes. He then stated on his Twitter, "Going forward, I will actively cooperate with President-elect Biden to address global challenges including the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) and climate change."

Kang Min-seok, the Blue House spokesperson, briefed that "President Moon congratulated President-elect Biden on his victory and exchanged views on the Korea-US alliance, North Korea's nuclear issue, COVID-19, and climate change response." He added, "President Moon evaluated that 'the result of this US presidential election reflects the American people's high expectations for President-elect Biden's long-standing government experience, outstanding leadership, and clear vision.'"

In response, President-elect Biden reportedly said, "Korea is the linchpin in security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region," and "I will firmly maintain the defense commitment to Korea and closely cooperate to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue." Both sides also reached a consensus to expand cooperation on global issues such as COVID-19 and climate change in the future.

President Moon Jae-in is having his first phone call with President-elect Joe Biden of the United States on the morning of the 12th. [Image source=Yonhap News]

During the call, South Korean officials including Suh Hoon, Director of the National Security Office, Suh Joo-seok, First Deputy Director, and Kim Hyun-jong, Second Deputy Director, were present. Before the call, at around 7:30 a.m., Director Suh chaired the National Security Council (NSC) Standing Committee meeting. The Blue House stated, "Based on the strong Korea-US alliance, we discussed ways to continuously develop Korea-US relations and achieve permanent peace and denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula."

Before the call with President Moon, on the 11th (local time), President-elect Biden visited the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Veterans Day to lay a wreath and observe a moment of silence at the monument. This event, honoring the sacrifices of American veterans, drew attention because he visited the Korean War Memorial. It is analyzed as a move to demonstrate his commitment to strengthening the Korea-US alliance ahead of his first official communication with President Moon. Regarding this, Spokesperson Kang conveyed that President Moon expressed gratitude during the call, recalling this and appreciating the President-elect's strong interest and commitment to the development of Korea-US relations and peace policy on the Korean Peninsula.

Meanwhile, before the call with President Moon, President-elect Biden also had a phone call of about 10 minutes with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga at around 8:30 a.m. on the same day.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.