Cho Tae-yeol said, "Communication channel with Trump and private use to supplement it."

Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yeol said he will supplement the communication channel by actively utilizing private connections with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who is about to return to power.

Minister Cho attended a plenary session of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee and said that there are aspects of political momentum in communication with Trump.

Trump's nomination of Richard Grenell, the former ambassador to Germany, to the "Presidential Ambassador for Special Mission," which also oversees North Korea's affairs, is welcome in the sense that the North Korean issue is not excluded from the priority list.

Cho said he will strengthen communication with major countries to manage foreign relations in a stable manner, adding that he is coordinating phone calls with U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken to discuss ways to cooperate under the acting president and looks forward to face-to-face consultations.