Seoul, Sep 26 (IANS) South Korean President Lee Jae Myung will hold summit talks with outgoing Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in the southeastern city of Busan next week, the presidential office said Friday.
The two sides will meet for talks as part of Ishiba’s two-day trip to South Korea from Tuesday to Wednesday, according to presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung, Yonhap News Agency reported.
“Through their meeting, the leaders of South Korea and Japan will further solidify the foundations for future-oriented cooperation between the two countries,” she said, noting that Ishiba’s visit will take place in line with the resumption of “shuttle diplomacy” between the two countries last month.
Lee held summit talks with Ishiba in Tokyo last month, where he suggested holding their next talks in South Korea in a location other than Seoul.
“They will share their candid thoughts on ways to strengthen coordination between South Korea and the United States and among South Korea, the United States and Japan for regional peace and security as well as the two countries’ joint interests,” she said.
It will be Ishiba’s first visit to South Korea since he took office in October last year and the first time in 21 years that a Japanese prime minister will visit a South Korean city other than Seoul.
Next week’s trip is expected to be Ishiba’s final one to South Korea as prime minister as he expressed his intent to resign earlier this month.
On September 23, the top diplomats of South Korea, the United States and Japan reaffirmed their “resolute” commitment to the denuclearisation of North Korea and highlighted the need to maintain sanctions against Pyongyang, a joint statement stated.
The statement came after South Korea’s Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly for talks on their partnership and other shared issues, including North Korea’s nuclear threats.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has suggested he is open to engaging in dialogue with President Donald Trump’s administration if Washington drops its denuclearization demand, saying he has no intention of relinquishing his nuclear stockpiles.
“The Secretary and Foreign Ministers reaffirmed their resolute commitment to the denuclearization of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in accordance with relevant United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions, while continuing to make efforts to maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula through dialogue and diplomacy,” the statement read, referring to North Korea by its official name.
“They emphasised the need to address together the DPRK’s nuclear and missile programs and to maintain and strengthen the sanctions regime against the DPRK by responding firmly and in cooperation with other countries to violations and evasions of the relevant UNSC resolutions.”
–IANS
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