Secretary Antony J. Blinken and Republic of Korea Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul at a Press Availability

MODERATOR: (Via interpreter) Good afternoon. Let us now begin the joint press availability of the ROK-U.S. foreign ministers' meeting, beginning with opening statements. Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul will speak first, to be followed by Secretary Blinken. After their opening statements, we will have a Q&A session. Now, let me invite Minister Cho first.

FOREIGN MINISTER CHO: (Via interpreter) Good afternoon. I am Cho Tae-yul, foreign minister of Korea. Let me first extend my sincere condolences to the victims and bereaved families of the tragedy in New Orleans. Korea will always stand with the people of the United States. I also express my deepest condolences on the passing of former President Carter, who was a respected elder statesman who devoted his life to democracy, human rights, and international peace - a true paragon to the entire world.

I once again welcome Secretary Blinken back to Korea. Under the current Government of Korea, this marks his third visit, and between us - including our official meetings and phone calls - our 14th engagement. If our brief encounters on multilateral occasions are included, the number would be even higher. Secretary Blinken's visit this time and the ROK-U.S. foreign ministers' meeting carries special significance more so than ever.

Firstly, full trust in the ROK-U.S. alliance was restored and a values-based Alliance revived. Today, we reaffirmed that there's no daylight between us in the ROK-U.S. alliance. Under the acting presidency of Choi Sang-mok, stable state governance and the solid ROK-U.S. alliance will ensure our foreign policy directions remain unchanged. I made this clear. Secretary Blinken expressed a strong support for Korea's democracy and the alliance, as well as confidence in the acting government, reaffirming his commitment to closely cooperating with the ROK Government to continue strengthening the alliance.

Secondly, the United States steadfast defense commitment to the ROK and the strategic importance of Korea-U.S.-Japan cooperation were reiterated. Secretary Blinken's choice of Korea and Japan as his first and final destinations as Secretary of State demonstrates the U.S.'s firm commitment to the ROK-U.S.-Japan partnership. Korea and the U.S., together with Japan, have ushered in a new era of trilateral cooperation. We looked back on the outcomes of the Camp David Summit, and based on its spirit and principles, high-level consultations were regularized, and in areas such as security, economic security, advanced technology, and development cooperation, sector-specific consultation bodies were launched, and we reviewed their progress.

Moreover, the trilateral secretariat established late last year will be central to the endeavors we agreed to make towards even stronger trilateral collaboration. On the DPRK, its nuclear issue, and illegal military cooperation with Russia - we had an in-depth exchange of views. Efforts implementing UNSC sanctions against North Korea and disclose its sanctions-evading activities as a way of inducing its denuclearization are more crucial than ever. Concurring on this, we pledged to continue our collaboration in this regard. We condemned the DPRK's launch of ballistic missiles today, and through a serious combined defense posture and strengthened extended deterrence, we pledged to prepare thoroughly for any potential North Korean provocations.

Thirdly, we reviewed the achievements of the ROK-U.S. cooperation and reaffirmed our commitment to follow-up measures. Korea and the U.S., through the Washington Declaration and the establishment of the NCG, have dramatically reinforced extended deterrence cooperation; reconvened the ROK-U.S. 2+2 foreign and defense ministers' meeting and agreed on its regularization, and declared our agreement to extend the ROK-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty to space - and outer space - outer space.

Our two nations have spearheaded efforts leading to the recent establishment of a new mechanism for monitoring the implementation of UNSC sanctions on North Korea, the MSMT, which is also driving the international community's enforcement of these sanctions. We also assessed the achievements of the next-generation CET Dialogue, as well as our AI and advanced technology cooperation, also exchanging views on the implementation of the IRA and CHIPS Act and fostering of a favorable investment environment for Korean companies in the U.S.

Our two nations have worked together to attain these milestones, which represent key elements of the global comprehensive strategic alliance and stand as a testament to the ROK-U.S. alliance elevated to its highest level. We agreed on the need to preserve these achievements in building them for even greater outcomes going forward, committing to achieve cooperation to this end.

The ROK-U.S. alliance is stronger when our two nations stand together as they do now. A strong alliance will offer future generations greater opportunities and prosperity, and contribute to the Korean Peninsula and Indo-Pacific region's peace, stability, and progress. As it has for the past 71 years, our companionship will endure. Thank you.

MODERATOR: (Via interpreter) Thank you. Now let me invite Secretary Blinken for opening statement.

SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thank you very much. And let me begin by thanking Foreign Minister Cho, acting President Choi, for welcoming me back to Seoul, and for their partnership and leadership during a challenging time for Korea. I also greatly appreciate the opportunity to meet with Speaker Wu and members of the National Assembly later this afternoon.

And let me start by saying how much I appreciate the friendship and the partnership that I've had with the foreign minister, with Tae-yul, a man of tremendous democratic integrity and someone I admire greatly. And on behalf of the American people, let me say how deeply saddened we are by the plane crash in Muan. Our hearts go out to the loved ones of all of the victims, the survivors, all of those touched by this tragedy. We have a team from the National Transportation Safety Board, from the Federal Aviation Administration, from Boeing - all here in Korea on the ground to support the investigation into this disaster. And I just want to reaffirm that the United States is here to help in any way that we can.

As the foreign minister noted, this is now my fourth visit in total to Korea, my 21st vision - visit to the region, to the Indo-Pacific, as Secretary of State. In many ways, this visit brings my tenure as Secretary full circle. Secretary Austin and I traveled here to Seoul and then to Tokyo on the very first overseas trip by any member of President Biden's Cabinet. We chose to come to Korea because for seven decades, the U.S.-ROK alliance has been the linchpin of peace, security, prosperity in Northeast Asia, the Indo-Pacific, but also increasingly around the world.

On day one, President Biden told me that my number one assignment was to revitalize and to reimagine our alliances and our partnerships so that we could more effectively meet the tests of our time and more effectively deliver for our people. Over the past four years, that is exactly what we've done. Today, the alliance between the United States and Korea remains more essential than ever in shaping our shared future, and I believe it's also stronger than ever in taking on that task.

We've enhanced, as you heard the minister say, our extended deterrence - the United States commitment to defend our allies with the full range of our conventional and nuclear capabilities - as well as our ability to coordinate and respond to DPRK aggression, including through the Nuclear Consultative Group. We condemn the DPRK's missile launch just today, yet another violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions. Together with Japan and the ROK, we have forged a new era of trilateral cooperation, helping to advance a shared vision of an Indo-Pacific that's free, that's open, that's prosperous, that's secure, that's resilient, increasingly connected.

I've had the privilege to help grow these relationships since my time as deputy secretary under President Obama and now as Secretary with President Biden's leadership. Following the historic summit that President Biden convened at Camp David, the U.S., the Republic of Korea, and Japan, we're now implementing more than three dozen different initiatives in the areas of security, economic relations and innovation, and people-to-people ties. Just by way of example, we're conducting a regular joint military exercise program. We're exchanging real-time data about North Korean ballistic missile launches. We're enhancing the interoperability of our armed forces. We're working to share early warning information on supply chain disruptions to make our economies even more secure and even more resilient. American, Korean, Japanese universities are collaborating increasingly with industry to train thousands of students in quantum computing, and that's going to give us a competitive edge in innovations that will shape the future.

We've established a program to help our next generation of young trilateral leaders address all of these shared challenges. This expanded trilateral cooperation has been a force multiplier for the good. A more unified partnership for peace and stability from the Korean Peninsula to the Taiwan Strait; an engine of economic and technological progress; a way to bring our people, especially our young people, together, closer together than ever before. I believe it's in the strategic interest of each of our countries not just to sustain this trilateral cooperation, but to grow it in the years ahead, particularly in an era when security in the Indo-Pacific and Europe is increasingly intertwined.

In the last week of December, more than 1,000 North Korean forces were killed and were wounded in Kursk, casualties of Russia's effort to redraw the border of a sovereign country -Ukraine - to do it by force, and a sign of the growing threat posed by heightened cooperation between revisionist authoritarians in Moscow and in Pyongyang. Now, this is a two-way street. The DPRK is already receiving Russian military equipment and training. Now. we have reason to believe that Moscow intends to share advanced space and satellite technology with Pyongyang, and that Putin may be close to reversing a decades-long policy by Russia and accepting DPRK's nuclear weapons program.

The Republic of Korea stepped up to support Ukraine as it defends itself against Russian aggression, providing essential humanitarian assistance to so many people who've been displaced by the conflict. And the United States looks forward to Korea - along with Japan, Australia, New Zealand - continuing to increase cooperation with NATO so that Atlantic and Pacific nations can stand together to defend international rules and principles, because that's fundamentally what's at stake in Ukraine.

This has been an aggression, yes, against the Ukrainian people and against Ukraine itself, but also an aggression against the very principles that lie at the heart of the international system and that were agreed to by countries around the world as the best way of preserving peace, preserving stability, preserving security. These are the principles at the heart of the UN Charter - territorial integrity, sovereignty, independence. These are the principles that Russia attacked; these are the principles that we are united in defending.

Together, we've also promoted a shared economic approach, whether that's the ROK hosting APEC this year, chairing the Mineral Security Partnership to enhance supply chain resilience, or investing in development initiatives from the Mekong to the Pacific Islands. The United States is now Korea's second largest investor and largest good exports market. Thanks primarily to the landmark Inflation Reduction Act as well as the CHIPS and Science Act, the Republic of Korea has become a leading investor in the United States, committing more than $140 billion since 2021, all the way from semiconductor plants in Michigan to solar facilities in Georgia. Our nations are working together, collaborating, to develop cutting-edge technologies in clean energy, in biotechnology, in space exploration.

Now, we meet as both of our countries are experiencing periods of transition, and what we know is this. Our relationship is bigger than any one leader, any one government, any one party. The security challenges that we face, the economic opportunities we share - all of these shared challenges and opportunities, they will continue to bring us closer together. And this relationship is grounded not just in economic or security interests, but in our shared democratic values.

Over these past four decades, Korea has written one of the most powerful, one of the most inspiring democratic stories in the world. Korea's democracy has been tested in recent weeks, just as Americans' democracy has faced challenges throughout our history. But you are responding by demonstrating your democratic resilience. The United States has full confidence in South Korea's institutions, and we reaffirm our unwavering support for the Korean people as they work tirelessly to uphold those institutions. We trust that the Republic of Korea, as a leading global democracy, will proceed in full accordance with its constitution and the rule of law.

More than 70 years after our alliance was forged in blood, there's a reason that there's strong and broad support for the alliance that continues to endure in both of our countries. It makes our people more secure; it makes them more prosperous; it makes them more innovative. It advances the values that we share together. Ultimately, this alliance doesn't only deliver for our people - it's rooted in our people.

Earlier this week, we had members of our new Congress sworn in. They included a Republican congresswoman born in Incheon, a Democratic congresswoman - the daughter of a Korean mother and a black American service member - who, when she was first elected, took the oath of office wearing a traditional Korean hanbok - and the first Korean American elected to the United States Senate. These Korean American leaders demonstrate the commitment that our people share to making real the promise of our democracies. They're a manifestation of the bonds that join our countries together.

And fundamentally, it's because of people like these in both our countries that I remain fully, strongly optimistic that the United States and South Korea will continue to go together into a future of our own making. Katchi kapshida. Thank you.

MODERATOR: (Via interpreter) Thank you. Next, we will open up the floor for questions. In the interest of time, we will take questions from two journalists each from the two sides. First, we will take the question from the Korean media. From Korea Daily, Moon Jae-yeon. Please, go ahead.

QUESTION: (Via interpreter) Good afternoon. My name is Moon Jae-yeon. I'm from Hankook, a daily newspaper. I would like to thank both of you for making dedicated efforts to ensure the democracy of Korea. My questions will go to each of you. Mr. Minister Cho first - of course you are saying that the trust in the Korean democracy has been restored. However, there are still disruptions going on due to the imposition of martial law, so what are your plans to restore the confidence, the full trust? And what do you believe is the cause of this?

(In English) Mr. Secretary, thank you so much for having us today. I have two questions for you. First, is the U.S. Government still in grave concern with the political situation in South Korea? Secondly, President Biden has portrayed the world as the battle between democracy and autocracy, yet with all due respect, the United States biggest allies, including us, South Korea, have underlined these very values. Why do you think the Biden administration's leadership was not strong enough to convince its ally countries to promote democracy in practice?

FOREIGN MINISTER CHO: (Via interpreter) Let me address the questions. First, martial law was declared, and we have been making efforts to handle the situation, but I believe it revealed both the democratic resilience of the country and also our vulnerabilities as well. So it had a dual side. If you focus just on the vulnerabilities with a magnifying glass, maybe you would feel that you are uncertain about the future of Korea, but I believe that the international community is focusing on the resilience, and I believe that that's the right way to assess the future of the country.

Therefore, the strong democratic resilience in our society, as well as our people's mature civic mindset, are valuable assets that I can leverage to swiftly stabilize our foreign relations and restore the international community's confidence. Liberal democracy and a market economy are the fundamental values of our constitution and invaluable assets that we have built over the past 70 years. As such, I believe that there should be no wavering in pursuing those goals and vision, and doing so, I believe, is the goal of our diplomacy, and we will work together with our ally - value-based ally - the United States to be able to do so.

And these efforts, as was mentioned by Secretary Blinken, will be maintained irrespective of the new government in either the U.S. or Korea. We will continue to work with the Trump administration based on the values-based alliance for all of the policies and actions that we will take going forward, and we will closely coordinate.

SECRETARY BLINKEN: So we - we had serious concerns about some of the actions that President Yoon took. We communicated those directly to the government. At the same time, we have tremendous confidence in the resilience of South Korea's democracy, in the strength of its institutions, and in the efforts that it's making to work through those institutions, pursuant to the constitution and the rule of law, to resolve differences and to do so peacefully.

And that actually gets right to the heart of the second part of your question. What sets democracies apart from other systems is precisely how we respond to challenges, including internal challenges. And what sets democracies apart - democracies like the United States and the Republic of Korea - is the fact that when we have differences, when we have challenges to our systems, we don't pretend they don't exist. We don't ignore them; we don't sweep them under the rug. We confront them; we deal with them openly, transparently. And sometimes that's painful, sometimes that's not pleasant to look at, but it is - it goes to the very strength of our systems.

And as our countries respond in different ways to different challenges, when we do so according to a constitution, according to the rule of law, and resolve differences peacefully, that is actually the strength of our systems and a strength that the Republic of Korea is reasserting today.

MODERATOR: (Via interpreter) Thank you. Next, we are ready to take a question from the U.S. media outlet. From New York Times, Edward Wong. Please, go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you, both of you. Mr. Secretary, it's appropriate you just spoke about the importance of democracy on the fourth anniversary of the violence of January 6th in the U.S. I'm wondering - you and Mr. Biden both hailed President Yoon as a champion of democracy, and you allowed him to hold the third Summit for Democracy here in Korea. Why were you and President Biden both blindsided by his anti-democratic power-grab? And do you regret placing your earlier faith in Mr. Yoon?

And a related question - yesterday I watched as Mr. Yoon's supporters amassed in the streets near our hotel, and they held up "stop the steal" signs in English and waved American flags and also chanted "stop the steal," clearly an appeal to President-elect Trump for help, given Trump's own attempt before and during January 6th to stay in power. I'd like your honest assessment of how the rapid erosion of democratic norms in America has impacted South Korea and other countries.

And for Mr. Cho, when Mr. Yoon, your president, declared martial law based on accusations of subversive forces in your own country, he appeared to be adopting strategies similar to the ones that autocrats in North Korea, Russia, and China use to stay in power. Why has your head of government gone in the same political direction as your national enemies and rivals, and how are you dealing with the tensions this has created with the United States? Thank you.

SECRETARY BLINKEN: So Ed, I don't want to repeat the answer I just gave, but it's fundamentally the same. All of our countries face challenges, and again, the hallmark of any democracy is in our response to those challenges. And what I said earlier and what I would reassert is that the response here in Korea to this most recent challenge, a response that's going forward, again, pursuant to the constitution, following the rule of law, and peacefully is what we've seen and what we fully expect.

Korea has been an extraordinary partner for the United States over many decades, but in particular these last four years, and we've seen that in the work that we're doing together not only bilaterally between our countries, not only in dealing with regional challenges, but increasingly globally. And it's not just security - it's economic, it's innovative, it's people-to-people. And we've seen the assertion of Korea as a global actor, and I think that's one of the most positive developments that we've seen in recent years. Korea's brand is remarkably strong - the story of its democratic trajectory and success, the strength of its economy, the innovative power of its people.

And when a country, whether it's ours or Korea, faces a challenge, the measure is how we respond. And again, as I said, the response that we're seeing and that we expect to continue to see is one that is peaceful and fully consistent and in accordance with the constitution and the rule of law. And again, at the risk of repeating myself, I think what we've seen in our own country, as well as in other democracies that have faced challenges, has been a response that's open, that's transparent, that doesn't pretend we don't have problems or challenges, that confronts them, confronts them directly. And time and again, what we've seen is our countries emerge stronger from those challenges.

Now, it's vitally important - essential - that as we respond to challenges, we do so in accordance with the rule of law, with the constitution, with our democratic principles. And if and as we do that, I believe that will only reinforce the strength of our democracies.

FOREIGN MINISTER CHO: (Via interpreter) Was there a question posed to me as well?

QUESTION: Yes, I can repeat it. I was saying earlier that your president, Mr. Yoon, when he declared martial law based on accusations of subversive forces in South Korea, he was adopting the same strategies that autocrats in North Korea, Russia, and China use to stay in power. Why has your head of government gone in this political direction, and how do you deal with the tensions this has created with the United States?

FOREIGN MINISTER CHO: (Via interpreter) I thought the question was directed to Secretary Blinken. In Korea, there was an incident that took place one month ago, and for you to be able to understand the situation, rather than trying to understand the general context you have to understand the specific culture and political culture and the history and the ups and downs along the history. You would have to understand the full picture of the - Korea as a nation, rather than trying to understand it from the perspective of democratic theory. If you do that, you wouldn't be able to find the correct answer to the whole situation.

Korea was able to achieve democracy and economic growth over a very short span of time, but as I mentioned previously, along that process, during that process, there were some vulnerabilities that we were unable to detect ourselves. And we are here where we are without understanding those vulnerabilities. So those hidden vulnerabilities and weaknesses were revealed due to a certain incident, explosive (inaudible), and that is the reason that we are having a situation that we never imagined that we would have currently.

This is something that we cannot overcome in any short time. This is something that our politicians, the political circles, will have to make concerted efforts to overcome. We need to overcome division so that we can heal ourselves and bring ourselves together for national harmony. To be able to do that, we would have to mobilize the intellectuals of the country so that we can overcome such deep divisions.

To the ROK-U.S. relations, I do not understand how much of damage it has caused to that, but during the past month, I have been trying to talk with Secretary Blinken and many members of the U.S. administration and political circles. And I was able to confirm that there is full trust and confidence in Korea as a nation on the part of the U.S. That was something that I was able to affirm myself, and based on such strong confidence and alliance, our bilateral relations will continue to move forward. That is something that I can be sure about. I do not have any insecurities on that.

MODERATOR: (Via interpreter) Thank you very much. Now we are back to taking questions from the Korean media. From The Korea Herald, Ji Dagyum. Please, go ahead with your question.

QUESTION: Thank you. Secretary Blinken, I'd like to take this opportunity during your final trip to Seoul to ask you two questions regarding North Korea policy and trilateral cooperation. North Korea launched a ballistic missile earlier today in what appears to be a symbolic gesture, overlapping with your final visit to Seoul and Tokyo. And some critics argue that there has been a lack of proactive engagement and limited visible progress in curbing North Korea provocation and advancing dialogue with North Korea. And how would you assess the Biden administration's overarching policy approach toward North Korea, and what do you view as the administration's key achievement and shortcomings in addressing North Korean issues.

And finally, what lessons learned would you recommend the Trump administration's (inaudible) more effectively to address North Korean issues and foster stability in the region?

And secondly, the Camp David Summit has been landmark achievement in strengthening trilateral cooperation among the U.S., South Korea, and Japan. However, with the Trump administration set to take office next January and political uncertainties (inaudible) in South Korea, concerns have emerged about the durability and sustainability of this trilateral framework. Given this development, what specific steps or institutional measures would you recommend to the Trump administration's - prioritized to ensure this trilateral partnership remains robust and resilient?

SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thank you very much. So with regard to the DPRK, first, as I said earlier, we condemn yet another violation of multiple Security Council resolutions with the reported missile launch. What we've worked to do over these last four years is two things. First, we have sought to engage the DPRK - and multiple efforts to sit down, to talk without any preconditions. We communicated that on many occasions. We've done it privately; we've done it publicly. And the only response effectively we've gotten has been more and more provocative actions, including missile launches.

So it is not for want of seeking engagement and trying to find a way forward through diplomacy, but at the same time we haven't stood still. On the contrary, we have, in historic ways, strengthened our common defense and common deterrence. We've done that bilaterally, including through the work of the Nuclear Consultative Group, and that I expect to meet in the coming days again. We've done it in reinforcing, in very practical ways, the alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea, and we've done it trilaterally with Japan.

And the spirit of Camp David is now manifesting itself, as I mentioned, in more than three dozen practical initiatives, notably in the security realm but also economics, people-to-people. That is bringing our countries closer together, demonstrating practical results for the people, and enhancing our defense and our deterrence when it comes to the DPRK. And precisely for those reasons, I fully expect it to continue. It's manifestly in the interests of the people in all three of our countries.

We have seen, among other things, just recently, the establishment of a permanent secretariat to manage the work of the trilateral process. I've heard positive statements across the political spectrum here in the Republic of Korea in support of that work. I'll be going to Tokyo from here, and I fully expect as well that I'll hear a reaffirmation of a commitment to the trilateral process. And in fact, again, today's launch is just a reminder to all of us of how important our collaborative work is, including on real-time information sharing, including on the exercises we're engaged in on a trilateral basis. All of that and more is a strong and effective response to the provocations from North Korea.

So I have confidence that, because it's so in the interest of all of us, it will continue and future administrations - whether it's here, whether it's in the United States, whether it's Japan - will continue to build on the work that we've done together.

MODERATOR: (Via interpreter) Last but not least, I will give a chance to a U.S. journalist. From the AFP, Shaun Tandon. Please, go ahead.

QUESTION: Hi. Mr. Secretary, Mr. Foreign Minister, thanks for doing this. Could I follow my Korean colleague's questions about North Korea? Sorry - there. I'll try again with the microphone. If I could follow up some - my Korean colleague's questions on North Korea, Mr. Secretary, you just said that you're seeing signs that Russia is expanding satellite and space cooperation. Could you elaborate on that? What time frame do you see? What type of risk (inaudible) you have?

And for both of you, South Korea, what role could it play increasingly in Ukraine? Is there still consideration of weapons to help Kyiv? And do you have any more information right now about North Korea, what they might be doing in Ukraine? On Ukraine, it's been reported that the Ukrainians have launched a counteroffensive, an expanded counteroffensive, today in Kursk. Do you have any information on that and where you think that's going?

Mr. Secretary, if you allow me, could I ask one question from somewhere else in the world - the Middle East. There have been reports that Hamas has formalized a list of initial hostages to be released. Brett McGurk is in the region. Do you think now we are closer to a ceasefire deal? Thank you.

SECRETARY BLINKEN: Great. Thanks, Shaun, and appreciate the very impressive effort to bring multiple questions and multiple theaters together in one. Thank you.

QUESTION: Trying to put the themes together.

SECRETARY BLINKEN: Appreciate that. With regard to this two-way street that I described in the relationship between Russia and the DPRK, what we're seeing is not only the provision of artillery, ammunition, and troops by North Korea to Russia - forced aggression against Ukraine - but we are seeing collaboration, support coming in the other direction. Russia is already providing military equipment to the DPRK. It's providing training. We believe that it has the intent to share space and satellite technology with the DPRK, and that concern is very much a focus that not only the United States but also the Republic of Korea and Japan are bringing to bear - and very much part of our conversations.

I think it underscores, as I mentioned as well, increasingly what we're seeing around the world, which is the indivisibility of security, the indivisibility of security between the Atlantic and Pacific theaters. It's manifested by the fact that right now, the biggest ongoing drivers that are allowing Russia to continue its aggression against Ukraine are coming in part from the DPRK - with artillery, with ammunition, with troops - and China in terms of its support or the support of its companies for Russia's defense industrial base. And I think that's been a big eye-opener to allies and partners in Europe, and also explains their intense focus on the Indo-Pacific, just as it motivates many of our partners in this region.

In Ukraine itself and in Kursk, what we've been doing every single day is to try to make sure that Ukraine has in hand what it needs to effectively defend itself against the ongoing Russian aggression, and as well to make sure that - if in the coming year, there is a negotiation, there are discussions of a ceasefire - Ukraine has the strongest possible hand to play. And of course, the Ukrainians themselves are trying to make sure that they have that strong hand. Their position in Kursk is an important one, because certainly it's something that would factor into any negotiation that may come about in the coming year.

I think it's going to be very, very important that if this gets to a point where there is a negotiation and where there is eventually a ceasefire, it be done on the best possible terms and consistent with something that is both just and durable. And part of that is going to be the imperative of making sure that there are adequate security assurances of one kind or another for Ukraine to prevent further Russian aggression, because what we know is this: If there is going to be at some point a ceasefire, it's not going to be, in Putin's mind, game over. His imperial ambitions remain, and what he will seek to do is to rest, to refit, and eventually reattack.

And the critical difference that needs to be established is making sure that there's an adequate deterrent in place so that he doesn't do that, that he thinks twice, three times before engaging in any re-aggression. But meanwhile, our purpose is to make sure that the Ukrainians are as strengthened as possible and that they have a strong hand to play.

Finally, with regard to the Middle East and in particular the ceasefire negotiations, as you know and as we've talked about many times, we've been working intensely to bring this agreement, to bring this plan that President Biden put forward back in May - and that the entire world got behind - country after country standing up, supporting the proposal that President Biden put forward - the UN Security Council voting 14 to nothing in favor of it - we're working very hard to bring that over the finish line.

And what we've seen in the last couple of weeks is a re-intensified engagement, including by Hamas, but we have yet to see agreement on the final points. So what I can tell you is this: We very much want to bring this over the finish line in the next two weeks, the time that we have remaining, and we will work every minute of every day of those two weeks to try to get that to happen. If we don't get it across the finish line in the next two weeks, I'm confident that it will get to completion at some point, hopefully sooner rather than later. And when it does, it will be on the basis of the plan that President Biden put forward and that virtually the entire world supports.

We need Hamas to make the final necessary decisions to complete the agreement and to fundamentally change the circumstance for the hostages - getting them out - for people in Gaza - bringing them relief - and for the region as a whole - creating an opportunity to actually move forward to something better, more secure for everyone involved.

MODERATOR: (Via interpreter) Thank you. This concludes the joint press availability for the ROK-U.S. foreign ministers' meeting. Thank you.

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