▲ Hong Seok-in, ambassador and deputy minister for public diplomacy, shakes hands with Liz Allen, U.S. under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, ahead of their meeting at Seoul's foreign ministry on Dec. 1, 2023, in this photo provided by the ministry. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

S Korea-US-public diplomacy

S. Korea, U.S. discuss efforts to tackle false information, info manipulation

SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States discussed ways to tackle the spread of false information and other information manipulation activities during their bilateral talks Friday, Seoul officials said.

The two sides agreed to deepen cooperation in these fields for joint responses during the talks between Hong Seok-in, ambassador and deputy minister for public diplomacy, and Liz Allen, U.S. under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, the foreign ministry in Seoul said.

The commitment to tackling false information and information manipulation was part of the agreement at the trilateral Camp David summit among President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in August.

In Friday's talks, Hong and Allen agreed that the fabrication of information and dissemination of false information are a "transnational threat that undermines the foundation of democracy and trust in the government," according to the ministry.

The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen cooperation in these areas.

They also discussed efforts to boost people-to-people exchanges, cooperate on public diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific region and elevate the public diplomacy dialogue to higher levels on a regular basis, the ministry said.

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