Returns from an eight-night, 10-day U.S. trip; meets U.S. chargé d’affaires
Kim Dae-sik and Cho Jeong-hoon, members of the U.S. trip delegation, accompanied him
Kim Dae-sik and Cho Jeong-hoon, members of the U.S. trip delegation, accompanied him
Jang Dong-hyeok, leader of the People Power Party, met with James Heller, the U.S. chargé d’affaires in Seoul, on the 23rd following an eight-night, 10-day visit to the United States. According to the People Power Party, Jang visited the U.S. Embassy in Jongno, Seoul, and met with Heller. Representatives Kim Dae-sik and Cho Jeong-hoon, who accompanied him on the U.S. trip, joined the meeting.
The two sides exchanged views on the outcomes of Jang’s visit and discussed ways to strengthen the U.S.–South Korea alliance moving forward. They also touched on the controversy surrounding Unification Minister Jeong Dong-young’s remarks about certain nuclear facilities.
Rep. Kim, who coordinated Jang’s U.S. schedule, used Facebook to directly rebut claims that the trip returned “empty-handed.” He said the trip’s central purpose was Jang’s invited speech at the International Republican Institute (IRI). Kim noted that IRI, a think tank associated with the U.S. Republican Party, formally inviting a South Korean conservative party leader to speak represents a significant gesture of courtesy and respect toward the People Power Party.
He asked critics to reconsider the premise that “prior coordination is common sense,” citing Prime Minister Kim Min-seok’s March trip to the U.S., during which an unplanned meeting with President Trump took place. “International diplomacy is far more fluid than that so-called ‘common sense,’” he wrote.
Kim also defended withholding the names of certain meeting counterparts as a “diplomatic promise.” He said that not disclosing the names of key National Security Council (NSC) officials followed a request from the other side and reflected basic diplomatic courtesy, not an effort to conceal anything.
While acknowledging that some actions by members of the delegation fell short of public expectations, he urged that a single photo not eclipse the chair’s IRI address and the delegation’s nonstop congressional meetings conducted in the national interest.
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