President Moon Jae-in talks with the heads of the four constitutional institutions -- Constitutional Court Chief Justice Yoo Nam-seok, National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug , Supreme Court Chief Justice Kim Myeong-su and Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum -- during a luncheon meeting at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on Wednesday. (Yonhap)
President Moon Jae-in assessed Wednesday that South Korea's relationship with the United States has evolved from a traditional military-and-security-based alliance to that of a comprehensive and global partnership.
Moon shared his views on the state of the Seoul-Washington alliance in a lunch meeting with the heads of constitutional institutions -- the National Assembly speaker, the Supreme Court chief justice, the Constitutional Court chief and the prime minister -- at Cheong Wa Dae.
The president told attendees that he realized during his summit with US President Joe Biden in Washington last month that the bilateral ties have "moved beyond the military and security alliance, and developed into a comprehensive and global alliance."
He mentioned the agreement with the US toward increasing the resilience of global supply chains in key industries.
The two countries also reached a package of major agreements on such issues as COVID-19 vaccines, North Korea and the alliance during the summit.
On Wednesday, Moon also shared the results of his European trip earlier this month, which included the attendance at the Group of Seven (G-7) summit in Britain. Although not a member of the wealthy nations' club, South Korea was invited as a guest, along with Australia, India and South Africa.
The president said he delivered South Korea's opinion "shoulder to shoulder along with G-7 nations" on the summit's key themes, including public health, climate change and open society.
Moon also said he witnessed the elevated global stature of South Korea during his overseas trip and stressed how other countries "desired to cooperate closely" with Seoul.
"During the early days of my term, nations throughout the world admired how our country restored democracy and achieved regime change through peaceful and cultural means, such as candlelight vigils without violent incidents," Moon said.
He added, "Now (nations) have high regards for South Korea's virus-related response capabilities and our economic capacity." (Yonhap)