U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release

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		No. 630-12
IMMEDIATE RELEASE		July 26, 2012

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Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs George Little provided the following readout:

“Deputy Secretary of Defense Ash Carter arrived in the Republic of Korea July 25 on the concluding leg of a 10-day tour of Asia.

“On Thursday he met with the U.S. Forces Korea Commander J.D. Thurman and U.S. Ambassador to Korea, Sung Kim. He later met and held substantive discussions with senior ROK government officials including National Security Advisor Chun, Yung-woo; Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Kim, Sung-Hwan; and Defense Minister Kim, Kwan Jin.

“During those meetings, Carter discussed modernizing ROK-U.S. forces, the situation in North Korea, and the key role that South Korea plays in the region. He also took note of progress towards achieving the vision of Strategic Alliance 2015, while expressing his conviction that a strong U.S. alliance with the Republic of Korea was indispensible to America’s future in the Asia-Pacific region.

“Carter began his trip to Asia July 17 and has visited Hawaii, Guam, Japan, Thailand, India, and the Republic of Korea to discuss a number of critical issues, including the implementation of the Pacific rebalancing strategy outlined by Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta at the June 2012 Shangri-La dialogue.

“He departed for the United States Thursday evening after visiting the Korean demilitarized zone and meeting with service members at Camp Humphreys.”

http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=15479