South Korea's new defense minister held his first phone call with his American counterpart James Mattis on Thursday evening, Korea Time.
Seoul's Ministry of National Defense says Mattis congratulated Jeong Kyeong-doo on his new role... and thanked him for his previous leadership as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Jeong and Mattis also discussed ways of mutual cooperation in order to facilitate denuclearization and peace on the Korean peninsula.
The two agreed the allies' close cooperation is needed more than ever in the changing security situations,... vowing to continue to further develop the South Korea-U.S. alliance.
They also agreed to closely communicate in implementing the recently-signed inter-Korean military agreement.