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U.S., South Korea reaffirm importance of peace in Taiwan Strait

ROC Central News Agency

05/21/2022 09:32 PM

Taipei, May 21 (CNA) A joint statement issued after a summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on Saturday referred to the "importance of preserving peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait."

"The two Presidents reiterate the importance of preserving peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait as an essential element in security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region," according to the statement issued after the Seoul summit.

The two leaders added that the alliance between South Korea and the U.S. established in 1953 was a linchpin for peace and prosperity in the region that had grown far beyond the Korean peninsula.

Biden and Yoon reaffirmed their commitment to a global comprehensive strategic alliance firmly rooted in the shared values of promoting democracy and the rules-based international order, fighting corruption, and advancing human rights.

The reference to Taiwan was made in the context of a global comprehensive strategic alliance that covered a range of issues of major concern to the region.

It was the second such reference to Taiwan in a joint statement by leaders of the two countries, following the joint statement issued after Biden and then-South Korean President Moon Jae-in met for a summit meeting in May last year.

This year's statement reiterated a commitment to the common goal of the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, describing North Korea's nuclear weapons program as a grave threat not only to the Korean Peninsula but also to the rest of Asia and the world.

Yoon's commitment in the statement to nonproliferation is a marked contrast to earlier proposals made during his election campaign, which had called for redeploying U.S. tactical nuclear warheads back to South Korean soil.

Biden arrived in South Korea on Friday as part of his first trip to Asia since taking office.

After South Korea, Biden will travel to Tokyo to meet Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and attend the leaders' summit of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, known colloquially as the Quad, an alliance of the U.S., Japan, India, and Australia, on May 24

(By Shih Hsiu-chuan)

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