JOHANNESBURG: South Korea's strategic value in the international community remains unchanged even under the current acting presidency amid ongoing political uncertainties sparked by President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment, Foreign Minister Cho tae-yul said.
Cho made the remarks in an interview with Yonhap News Agency in Johannesburg on Saturday after attending a gathering of foreign ministers of the Group of 20 (G20) nations there.
"South Korea has sufficient strategic value in the international community, and this remains unchanged even under the acting presidency, " Cho said, noting he met with a number of US lawmakers tasked with foreign affairs during his visit to Munich earlier this month.
They included Sen. James Risch (R-ID), head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), ranking member of the committee, and Brian Mast (R-FL), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, according to Cho. The meetings were said to have been held at the request of the US side.
"(I) visited Germany to attend a South Korea-US foreign ministerial meeting and a South Korea-US-Japan foreign ministerial meeting but achieved results beyond expectations, " he said.
Meanwhile, Cho stressed the importance of South Korea strengthening ties with other middle power countries, citing growing global uncertainties following the launch of the second Donald Trump administration.
"We must now expand our sights beyond the four powers near the Korean Peninsula (the United States, China, Japan and Russia), the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, " Cho said, referring to the Netherlands, Australia and Canada as what he called middle power countries.
During the two-day G20 foreign ministerial gathering in Johannesburg that began Thursday, Cho held talks with his counterparts from Australia, Britain, Spain, the European Union, the Netherlands, Algeria and South Africa.
On Thursday, he also held joint talks with his counterparts from Australia, Mexico, Indonesia and Turkey, countries that are part of the so-called MIKTA group created in 2013 to enhance cooperation on issues of common interest.