*EPF406 04/18/2002
Text: State's Armitage Meets with S. Korea's Foreign Minister
(Armitage, Choi discuss Korean peninsula issues) (200)

Following is the text of an April 17 State Department statement on Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage's meeting with Republic of Korea Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Choi Sung-hong:

(begin text)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman

April 17, 2002

STATEMENT BY PHILIP T. REEKER, DEPUTY SPOKESMAN

DEPUTY SECRETARY HOLDS TALKS WITH SOUTH KOREAN FOREIGN MINISTER

Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage hosted a working luncheon today for Republic of Korea Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Choi Sung-hong. The Deputy Secretary and Foreign Minister Choi discussed the situation on the Korean Peninsula and welcomed the results of South Korean Special Envoy Lim Dong-won's recent talks with North Korean leaders in Pyongyang, which included agreements on resuming dialogue and cooperation between the two Koreas. The Deputy Secretary sought Foreign Minister Choi's views on appropriate next steps in our coordinated policy toward North Korea and took positive note of North Korean signals that it is willing to resume dialogue. Other topics of discussion included the Community of Democracies ministerial, to be held in November in Seoul, as well as bilateral and regional issues.

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(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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