South Korea's new defense minister held his first phone call with his American counterpart James Mattis on Thursday evening, Korea Time.<br /> 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.<br />Jeong and Mattis also discussed ways of mutual cooperation in order to facilitate denuclearization and peace on the Korean peninsula.<br />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.<br />They also agreed to closely communicate in implementing the recently-signed inter-Korean military agreement. <br />
