Press Releases
Speaker Woo Won-shik meets with U.S. Ambassador to ROK
- Aug 22, 2024
- 177
Speaker Woo Won-shik meets with U.S. Ambassador to ROK
- Bipartisan support for the ROK-U.S. alliance in both Korea and the U.S.
- Calls for ensuring smooth and reliable investment activity by Korean companies and
resolving the visa quota issue for Korean professionals
The Republic of Korea’s National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik met on July 24 with U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea Philip Goldberg in the Speaker’s office. During the meeting, Speaker Woo emphasized the bipartisan support for the ROK-US alliance within the National Assembly and requested the ambassador’s efforts to ensure better and safer investment activities by Korean businesses in the U.S., as well as to resolve the issue of visa quotas for Korean professionals.
The Speaker acknowledged Ambassador Goldberg’s contributions to enhancing Korea-U.S. relations by saying, “Your active diplomatic efforts have played a significant role in bringing the people and governments of the two countries closer together.”
He then agreed with Goldberg’s view that the bilateral alliance should continue to develop and expand as a “global comprehensive strategic alliance” based on shared values, serving as a key pillar for peace, stability, and prosperity not only in the Indo-Pacific region but around the globe.
In addition, Speaker Woo highlighted the establishment of the Korea-U.S. Interparliamentary Exchange Center in Washington, D.C., in April and the planned creation of the Korea-U.S. Parliamentarians’ Union within the National Assembly, stating: “The National Assembly will continue to support the development of the Korea-U.S. alliance, which enjoys bipartisan backing.”
Commenting on specific areas of cooperation, Speaker Woo urged Ambassador Goldberg to dedicate efforts toward ensuring that Korean companies can implement large-scale investment plans smoothly and reliably, even after the U.S. presidential election in November. He also expressed hopes for the passage of a bill that would create a separate visa category for Korean professionals.
In response, Ambassador Goldberg affirmed that the U.S. Congress also supports the Korea-U.S. alliance on a bipartisan basis and concurred on the importance of parliamentary diplomacy and exchange between the two countries. He added that as alliance partners, the Republic of Korea and the United States have appropriately coordinated on a range of issues and will continue to do so.
The meeting attendees from the U.S. side included Min Chang, Minister-Counselor for Political Affairs at the U.S. Embassy, while from the Korean side, attendees included Jo O-seop, Chief of Staff to the Speaker; Park Tae-seo, Senior Secretary for Public Relations to the Speaker; Jeong Woon-jin, Ambassadorial Advisor to the Speaker for Foreign Affairs; and Koo Hyun-woo, Director General of the International Affairs and Protocol Bureau.
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