Acting U.S. Ambassador Kevin Kim. Yonhap News

Acting U.S. Ambassador to Korea Kevin Kim met with Jeong Yeon-doo, head of the Foreign Policy and Strategy Information Bureau, who is South Korea's chief nuclear negotiator with North Korea, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul on the 10th to discuss North Korea policy.

The head of the Foreign Policy and Strategy Information Bureau is a vice-ministerial position overseeing North Korean nuclear negotiations, and the post had been vacant for some time after the inauguration of the new government before Director Jeong was appointed on the 28th of last month.

After the meeting, Ambassador Kim told reporters, "The United States and South Korea are closely cooperating on all issues," adding, "We are working very closely together on the entire North Korea issue."

When asked if the U.S. was concerned about the phrase "a Korean Peninsula without nuclear weapons," he only responded with "Thank you" and did not elaborate.

Recently, some media outlets reported that Ambassador Kim expressed concern to South Korean high-ranking officials about President Lee Jae-myung's use of the phrase "a Korean Peninsula without nuclear weapons" instead of "denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."

In response to these reports, a South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs official stated, "The ROK and the U.S. continue to maintain close communication and cooperation on overall North Korea policy."