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‘Reduced tension in Korea good for Marianas’
Marianas Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) and members of the Congressional Study Group on Korea met with vice foreign minister Lim Sung-nam of the Republic of Korea at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday. Lim is the top-ranked official to come from the ROK to consult with Congress since last week’s Singapore summit between President Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un. (Contributed Photo)
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Marianas’ ties to South Korea and regional stability were the focus for Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) yesterday in a meeting with vice foreign minister Lim Sung-nam.
Lim is the highest ranking official of the South Korean government to visit Washington, D.C. since President Donald Trump’s summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un last week.
Sablan met Lim along with Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA), co-chair of the Congressional Study Group on Korea, and Reps. Joe Wilson (R-SC) and John Faso (R-NY).
Sablan said he is optimistic about improvements in the relations between the U.S. and North Korea and how that will benefit the Marianas. “De-escalation of tensions has to have a positive effect on our region generally,” Sablan said. “Whether it is Korean business looking for investment opportunities or Korean families who want to vacation, everyone is going to feel a little more confident about the future, if the U.S. and North Korea are talking.”
Lim urged the congressmen to continue to speak in favor of denuclearization and to support peaceful settlement of grievances on the Korean peninsula. And the lawmakers reaffirmed America’s alliance with South Korea.
“South Korea, particularly President Moon Jae-in, has to be congratulated for acting as a go-between for North Korea and the U.S.,” Sablan said. “President Moon’s outreach to the North was really the catalyst for what became the Singapore summit. And, of course, it was the South Korean government that carried the North’s initial invitation to meet to President Trump.
“The geopolitics of our Western Pacific region are very much in flux these days,” the Marianas delegate said. “I think we all have to learn the importance of talking with each other—especially with those we disagree with.” (PR)
