President Yoon: "Kishida, Confident as a Partner to Develop Bilateral Relations"

(Madrid, Spain = Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan) President Yoon Suk-yeol, attending the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit held in Madrid, Spain, stated on the 29th (local time) that he is confident that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida can be a partner who can resolve Korea-Japan issues and develop bilateral relations for the shared future interests of both countries.

Before attending the summit in the afternoon, President Yoon responded to reporters' questions about his first impression of Prime Minister Kishida during a door-stepping, saying, "I had a brief conversation at the Spanish King's dinner yesterday, and today we held a considerable amount of time in the Asia-Pacific Four (AP4) meeting," expressing this view.

Regarding China’s opposition to attending the NATO summit, he said, "Rather than naming a specific country, NATO countries and Indo-Pacific countries must work together in solidarity to create a cooperative order based on norms that emphasize freedom, human rights, and the rule of law," adding, "There is significance in attending this NATO meeting at that level." He further added, "The concept of security has been changing from political and military security to comprehensive security including economic security such as supply chains, and since the security situation in a specific region has global repercussions, there is now a consensus that security crises cannot be resolved by alliances in a specific region alone."

Regarding the 'Korea-US-Japan trilateral summit' held for the first time in 4 years and 9 months, he said, "Even if not today, there is a consensus among Korea, the US, and Japan that security cooperation must be strengthened in relation to the North Korean nuclear crisis," adding, "Security cooperation will inevitably be strengthened as North Korea’s nuclear capabilities advance."