Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-hwa has urged Washington’s support in strengthening sanctions and pressure against North Korea for the denuclearization of the peninsula.
 
Kang made the remark in a meeting with U.S. congressional leaders including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, John McCain, chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, and Ed Royce, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, in Washington on Tuesday.
 
During the meeting, Kang stressed the importance of cooperation between Seoul and Washington to ease escalating tensions on the peninsula and to induce the denuclearization of the North. She also called for efforts to manage the situation stably against the North’s threats. 
 
McCain responded that he will do everything he can to strengthen the U.S. commitment to defend South Korea and maintain deterrence against the North.
 
Royce also called on maintaining strong deterrence, strengthening pressure against Pyongyang and the active implementation of UN sanctions against the North by China.
 
Pelosi expressed opposition to another war on the Korean Peninsula, adding that she supports a peaceful and diplomatic resolution of the North’s nuclear issue.