S. Korean vice foreign minister meets with Clinton advisers

SEOUL, June 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's No. 2 diplomat on Monday met with two advisers to U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to discuss North Korea and other regional issues, Seoul's foreign ministry said.

The meeting took place between First Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam and four members of a U.S. task force on China policy, including Orville Schell, Arthur Ross, director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at the Asia Society in New York, and Susan Shirk, professor emeritus and chair of the 21st Century China Program at the University of California, San Diego, the ministry said in a press release.

Schell and Shirk are co-chairs of the task force, which was launched in September with the aim of providing policy advice on U.S.-China relations to the incoming U.S. administration and Congress.

The two scholars are also members of Clinton's Asia Policy Working Group.

Lim held "in-depth discussions" with the visiting delegation on key regional issues, saying he hopes they will properly stress the importance of the South Korea-U.S. alliance to regional peace and stability in their China policy report that will be submitted to the next administration.

The delegation said they expect their meetings with South Korean government officials here to greatly contribute to the work of the task force, noting that South Korea plays a key role in relations between the U.S. and China.

"The delegation's visit is expected to contribute to improving U.S. experts' understanding of our main foreign policy issues and strengthening our networks with the U.S. presidential campaigns," the ministry said.

hague@yna.co.kr
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