Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha met United States Forces Korea Commander Gen. Robert Abrams on Friday during her visit to Osan Air Base and Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.

During the meeting with Abrams at Camp Humphreys, Kang acknowledged his efforts to provide military support for diplomatic efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula and establish lasting peace.




According to the Foreign Ministry, the US commander said Kang’s visit was evidence of close cooperation between South Korean diplomatic authorities and US defense authorities.

Pointing to the large scale of the sprawling US military complex and the new facilities there, Kang said it was proof of the Korean people’s support for the alliance between the two countries. Abrams expressed his gratitude for the support of the Korean people.

The USFK and the United Nations Command moved their headquarters to Camp Humphreys in June 2018.

“Minister Kang and Commander Abrams agreed to cooperate with each other to further strengthen and develop the alliance in the future, just as they have successfully adapted and evolved in a new environment for the past 66 years,” the ministry said in a press release.

Negotiations for next year’s cost-sharing deal for the upkeep of the US forces here are expected to begin in late September. An early return of more than two dozen US military bases in South Korea is also an ongoing topic of discussion between the two countries.

At the Osan Air Force Base, Kang had a luncheon meeting with about 20 US and South Korean Air Force personnel, during which she praised their hard work to defend South Korea’s airspace and emphasized the importance of the alliance more than ever in response to the rapidly changing regional security situation.

(hnpark@heraldcorp.com)