Seoul, June 9 (IANS) South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba agreed to deal with geopolitical crises under the framework of trilateral cooperation with the United States in their first phone talks on Monday, the presidential office said.
During the 25-minute conversation, Lee and Ishiba also reaffirmed the importance of bilateral ties between the two neighbours and expressed hope to meet in person at an early date, presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung told reporters.
“Lee expressed hope that the two countries would work together to explore mutually beneficial approaches to addressing future challenges from the perspective of their shared national interests,” Kang said.
Lee, who has pursued a “pragmatic” diplomacy, and Ishiba shared the consensus on the need to build a more “solid and mature” bilateral relationship based on “mutual respect, trust and a responsible attitude,” he added.
Recognising the 60th anniversary of the normalisation of diplomatic relations between the two nations later this month, Lee and Ishiba agreed to promote people-to-people exchanges and enhance communication between their governments, Yonhap news agency reported.
A potential venue for their first in-person meeting could be the Group of Seven summit in Canada, scheduled for June 15-17, where Lee has been invited as a guest.
Since taking office, Lee stressed the need for policy coherence in dealing with Japan, signalling his intention to uphold the previous Yoon Suk Yeol administration’s approach on the wartime forced labourer issue, which helped ease strained ties between Seoul and Tokyo.
It marks Lee’s second call with a foreign leader, following his first conversation with US President Donald Trump on Friday.
Lee’s office is also arranging a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to a senior presidential official.
Lee was elected President after months of turmoil surrounding the impeachment and ouster of his former opponent over a botched attempt to impose martial law.
Lee’s win was a remarkable comeback after having lost to former President Yoon Suk Yeol by a razor-thin margin of less than 1 percentage point in the previous election in 2022.
While Yoon’s attempt to impose martial law in December paved the way for Lee’s rise to the presidency, it also deepened the nation’s political divide and increased the challenges posed by everything from the United States’ tariff policies to North Korea’s advancing nuclear weapons programme.
–IANS
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