The President and U.S. President Barack Obama released a joint statement entitled “Joint Vision for the Alliance of the Republic of Korea and the United States of America,” right after the summit talks that took place in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, June 16 (American time).

In the joint statement Korea and the United States reconfirmed their strong alliance to ensure a peaceful, secure and prosperous future for Korean Peninsula and Asia-Pacific region. Both sides also expressed full commitment to the principles of free democracy and market economy and pledged to keep up cooperation among business, civic, cultural, academic and other sectors.

The statement went on to say that the Korea-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty, which has remained a cornerstone of Korea-U.S. security relations for the past half a century will continue to maintain that role, and that bilateral mechanisms like the Security Consultative Meeting and the Strategic Consultations for Allied Partnership will keep playing a central role in realizing the shared vision for the Alliance.

The statement then made clear that both countries will work together to achieve the complete and verifiable elimination of North Korea''s nuclear weapons and all its programs related to it, while also paying attention to human rights issue there.

On a global level, the two sides also decided to work closely against global terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction as well as other universal matters such as the global financial crisis, piracy, organized crime, climate change, poverty, narcotics, human rights infringements, energy security and epidemics.

The statement recognized the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement as a way to further strengthen bilateral trade and investment relations, and said that the two sides are committed to working together to move forward on it.

For full text visit website of Cheong Wa Dae

By Kim Hee-sung
Korea.net Staff Writer