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| U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha / Yonhap |
By Kim Bo-eun
Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-hwa met with her U.S. counterpart Mike Pompeo in Warsaw, Thursday, to discuss measures regarding North Korea's denuclearization ahead of a second summit between Pyongyang and Washington later this month.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Ministerial to Promote a Future of Peace and Security in the Middle East held there.
The two spoke about discussions U.S. Special Representative Stephen Biegun had in Pyongyang last week on the agenda of the summit. Negotiations narrowing down Pyongyang's denuclearization steps and Washington's corresponding measures are set to follow next week.
The ministers also discussed South Korea's share of defense costs in the Special Measures Agreement that covers the cost of stationing U.S. troops here.
After the two countries signed an agreement Sunday for Seoul to pay 1.03 trillion won this year, U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that South Korea needed to pay more, and stated it agreed to pay an additional $500 million.
Regarding the matter, Cheong Wa Dae said the two sides would review the need to raise South Korea's contributions, and it could decide against a rise.
Meanwhile, Kang will meet with her Japanese counterpart Taro Kono in Germany today, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
The meeting is taking place at a time when bilateral relations have hit their lowest point in decades.
Tension has escalated in recent days after a remark by National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang, which called for an apology by Japan's emperor for the Japanese military's sexual enslavement of Korean women before and during World War II.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe referred to the remark as "extremely inappropriate" and called for him to apologize and take it back.
Moon said his words meant a sincere apology from Japan was necessary, and that the remark was not something to apologize for.
Kang and Kono are set to discuss rulings by the Supreme Court that ordered Japanese firms to compensate victims of forced labor under Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule of Korea, according to the foreign ministry.
"The two ministers will discuss matters of bilateral concern, including affairs on the Korean Peninsula and the Supreme Court rulings on forced labor victims," the ministry said.
Tokyo has contended that the issue was resolved through a bilateral deal made in 1965.
Japan has requested South Korea for "diplomatic discussions" on the matter, but Seoul has not yet responded.
The countries have also yet to resolve a row surrounding threatening, low flybys by Japan's patrol planes over South Korean warships.
