National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo, right, and U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi attend a joint press announcement after their meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, Thursday. Newsis

Kim, Pelosi agree to foster cooperation in defense, technology

By Jung Min-ho

The parliamentary leaders of South Korea and the United States vowed to expand the bilateral alliance further in defense and technology, Thursday, the day Beijing launched unprecedented live-fire military drills near Taiwan in a warning to Washington.

National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo and U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met for talks in Seoul, where they agreed to improve the bilateral relationship to the "comprehensive" level through cooperation in security and the economy, including high-tech fields like semiconductors, to handle challenges facing both countries more effectively.

The meeting comes just a day after Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, where she pledged Washington's "ironclad" commitment to defending democracy on the self-governing island at her meeting with Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen. Beijing, which claims the island as its territory, reacted furiously with military drills that would effectively blockade it. Her visit was also denounced by China's allies, including Russia and North Korea.

In a joint statement, Kim and Pelosi reaffirmed their joint efforts for dealing with the North's evolving nuclear and missile threats.

"Both sides expressed concerns about the dire situation of North Korea's growing threat," it says. "We support the efforts of the two governments to achieve practical denuclearization and peace through international cooperation and diplomatic dialogues, based on the strong and extended deterrence against the North."