<Anchor>

The first US Secretary of Defense, Esper, visited the Blue House after meeting with our diplomacy and defense minister. There was no public comment on the defense contributions that interested him.

I am reporter Kim Ah-young.

<Reporter>

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper visited the Pentagon office today (November 9) and met with Defense Minister Chung Kyung-du from 11:00.

Chung recently said the security situation on the Korean peninsula and in Northeast Asia is very urgent, and it is very meaningful to discuss the alliance.

[CEO Kyung-Doo Chung / Defense Defense: Japan raises security issues and announces economic retaliation, which is causing adverse effects on Korea-Japan relations and ROK-Japan security cooperation.]

Mr. Esper reaffirmed his basic stance on the alliance, saying security cooperation in India and the Pacific is important.

[Mark Esper / Secretary of Defense: Today I reaffirm that the US-ROK alliance is like an iron barrel. The US-ROK alliance is a key pillar of peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia.]

However, there were no public comments on the defense contribution contribution, ROK-Japan military information security agreement, and medium-range missiles that were of interest.

The Foreign Ministry said that Esper did not comment on ROK-US defense contributions at the meeting with Secretary-General Kang.

In the afternoon, Mr. Esper, who prevented President Moon from the Blue House, said he expects talks to resume early, referring to the Panmunjom meeting.