[Unofficial Translation]

President Biden, thank you for your special and warm hospitality. I am very pleased to be making a state visit to the United States during this meaningful year that marks the 70th anniversary of the ROK-U.S. Alliance.

Our two countries have overcome challenges and crises during the past 70 years based on the deep roots of freedom and democracy, building an alliance of values that is strong, resilient, and sustainable.

We are now being threatened by an unprecedented polycrisis. The ROK-U.S. Alliance is jointly overcoming this crisis as a righteous alliance that contributes to world peace and prosperity.

We will further expand the depth and denotation of the ROK-U.S. global comprehensive strategic partnership and march forward to the future.

Today, President Biden and I engaged in constructive dialogue to discuss ways to materialize this shared vision.

The outcome of our dialogue is well outlined in the joint statement adopted today.

The first key outcome is extended deterrence. Sustainable peace on the Korean Peninsula does not happen automatically.

Our two leaders have decided to significantly strengthen extended deterrence of our two countries against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats so that we can achieve peace through the superiority of overwhelming forces and not a false peace based on the goodwill of the other side.

Such a will and commitment is captured in the Washington Declaration. President Biden has reaffirmed his ironclad commitment to extended deterrence toward the Republic of Korea.

Our two countries have agreed to immediate bilateral presidential consultations in the event of North Korea’s nuclear attack and promised to respond swiftly, overwhelmingly and decisively using the full force of the alliance including the United States’ nuclear weapons.

Our two countries have agreed to establish a Nuclear Consultative Group to map out a specific plan to operate the new extended deterrence system.

Now our two countries will share information on nuclear and strategic weapon operations plans in response to North Korea’s threats and have regular consultations on ways to plan and execute joint operations that combine Korea’s state-of-the-art conventional forces with the U.S.’s nuclear capabilities, the results of which will be reported to the leaders of our two countries.

In addition, our two countries have agreed to further advance tabletop exercises against a potential nuclear crisis.

In addition, deployment of the United States’ strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula will be made constantly and routinely.

President Biden and I will continue to cooperate to strengthen extended deterrence between our two countries based on our historic and concrete agreement reached during our summit.

Second, our two leaders have agreed to further strengthen the strategic partnership in economic security, which is directly related to the national economies of our two countries.

President Biden and I welcomed the expansion of our firms’ bilateral mutual investment and advanced technology, including semiconductors, electric vehicles and batteries.

President Biden has said that no special support and considerations will be spared for Korean companies’ investment and business activities in particular.

We have agreed to consult and coordinate closely so that the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Science Act can further strengthen supply chain cooperation between the two countries in advanced technology.

Furthermore, we plan on ramping up partnerships in cutting-edge technology.

We have agreed to establish a dialogue for next-generation emerging and core technology between the U.S. National Security Council and the Korea Office of National Security, pertaining to chips, batteries, biotechnology, quantum science and other cutting-edge technologies, with the aim of promoting joint R&D and experts exchange.

We have also adopted a separate joint statement for strengthening cooperation in the rapidly emerging quantum science and technology domain.

President Biden and I have also agreed to get the ball rolling on discussions about expanding our alliance into the cyber and space realms by applying the Mutual Defense Treaty in cyberspace and space as well.

We have also agreed that the Strategic Cybersecurity Cooperation Framework adopted this time around will serve as the foundation on which we address cyber threats together and boost cooperation in information sharing, collection and analysis.

Space is another area that shows great promise for cooperation between our two countries. During my time here, I was able to visit the National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA) Goddard Space Center. President Biden welcomed the establishment of the Korea AeroSpace Administration(KASA), and we have agreed to promote cooperation between KASA and NASA.

We have also agreed to accelerate discussions on reaching a reciprocal defense procurement agreement, which is equivalent to an FTA in terms of national defense.

Meanwhile, President Biden and I have agreed to promote exchange between the future generations of our two countries.

To this end, we have launched the ROK-U.S. special exchange initiative for youths. In celebration of the 70th anniversary of the ROK-U.S. Alliance this year, our two countries plan to invest a total of $60 million to support exchanges between 2,023 youths majoring in STEM, humanities and social sciences.

And this also includes the largest Fulbright program to date, which will provide scholarships for 200 students.

Last but not least, President Biden and I have agreed that the Republic of Korea and the United States, as key partners in achieving stability and building peace in the Indo-Pacific region, will put our heads together as we implement our Indo-Pacific strategies to strengthen our cooperation in addressing regional and global challenges.

In particular, President Biden expressed strong support for efforts made by the Korean government to normalize Korea-Japan relations, and we have agreed to continue our efforts in strengthening Korea-U.S.-Japan trilateral cooperation.

Furthermore, we reaffirmed that the use of force to take the lives of innocent people – an example of which would be Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – can in no circumstances whatsoever be justified. In that sense, we agreed to continue our cooperation and efforts alongside the international community to support Ukraine.

During this meeting, we also discussed plans through which our two countries can take a leadership role in addressing global challenges, such as climate change, international development cooperation, and energy and food security.

I am delighted that through today’s meeting, we’ve opened up a new chapter for the next 70 years of the ROK-U.S. Alliance.

We also reaffirmed our shared faith in and vision for a free society. I hope President Biden and I, with the support of the people of our two countries, can fully deliver on the blueprint for the “Alliance in Action toward the Future” that we have mapped out today.

Thank you.