President Yoon Suk Yeol on Nov. 7 speaks to U.S. President-elect Donald J. Trump over the phone at the Office of the President in Seoul. (Office of the President)

By Yoon Sojung

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Nov. 7 made his first phone call to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and agreed to hold a bilateral summit in the near future.

Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo told a news briefing that day at the Office of the President in Seoul, "President Yoon from 7:59 a.m. (Korean Standard Time) held a phone conversation with U.S. President-elect Trump for about 12 minutes," adding, "They agreed to hold a meeting on a set date and venue in the near future."

The conversation covered North Korea and its military activities in Ukraine, as both leaders expressed concern over the urgent situation in Ukraine, Deputy Adviser Kim said.

"In particular, (both sides) shared the situation of the North's growing nuclear capacity, launch of ICBM missiles, continued ballistic missile provocations, dropping of waste balloons and jamming of the Global Positioning System (GPS), which threatens the safety of domestic vessels, civilians and aviation," he added. "They agreed on the need to meet in person to reach a concrete agreement on all of these issues."

President Yoon also congratulated the president-elect on his election victory, saying, "I hope that you can steer the great America under your leadership," adding, "Let's continue the close partnership of the Korea-U.S. alliance in all areas of security and economy."

On trilateral cooperation with Washington and Tokyo, he added, "Cooperation between the U.S. and Japan has grown stronger by the day, and the setup of the trilateral cooperation structure at Camp David was thanks to the contribution of President Trump, who firmed up such cooperation among Korea, the U.S. and Japan in his first term."

President-elect Trump responded by saying he looks forward to continuing the good cooperative relationship between Korea and the U.S. 

Both sides also agreed to form a joint leadership in the Indo-Pacific region and Korean Peninsula as well as the international community. 

arete@korea.kr