U.S. lawmakers voice support for S. Korea alliance

WASHINGTON, June 19 (Yonhap) -- A group of U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday voiced support for the South Korea-U.S. alliance in the wake of recent efforts to denuclearize North Korea through dialogue, Seoul's foreign ministry said. Members of the Congressional Study Group of Korea, including its co-chair, Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA), met with South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam to discuss recent developments on the Korean Peninsula. Lim is the first high-ranking Seoul official to visit Washington since U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held a historic summit in Singapore last week. Lim thanked the lawmakers for their contributions to strengthening the bilateral alliance and toward a peaceful solution to the North Korean nuclear threat, according to the ministry. He especially called on them to actively pursue congressional discussions for denuclearization and the establishment of a permanent peace regime on the Korean Peninsula. "The lawmakers, in one voice, reaffirmed their firm support for the South Korea-U.S. alliance, expressed their hope that the current dialogue momentum created through the inter-Korean and North Korea-U.S. summits will lead to denuclearization and peace on the Korean Peninsula, and pledged an even more enthusiastic role and support in that process," the ministry said in a press release. The other congressmen in attendance were Reps. Joe Wilson (R-SC), John Faso (R-NY) and Delegate Gregorio Sablan (Ind-MP). hague@yna.co.kr (END)