Mention of Seafood Issues at Meeting with Japanese Politician... "Cannot Accept If Safety and Health Are Threatened"
Yoon Orders Thorough Follow-up on Summit... "Ensure All Ministries Take Full Measures for Public Awareness"
The Presidential Office announced on the 20th that 'Dokdo' and 'comfort women' were not discussed during the summit between President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Regarding the Fukushima seafood issue, it was disclosed that "it came up during a meeting where Japanese politicians met the president," but the stance was emphasized that "if there is anything that threatens the safety and health of the people, it will never be accepted."
A Presidential Office official met with reporters at the Yongsan Presidential Office in the afternoon and said, "The issues of Dokdo and comfort women were not discussed at the Korea-Japan summit." This was in response to Japanese media reports claiming that Prime Minister Kishida demanded the implementation of the agreement on Japanese military comfort women and the removal of import restrictions on Fukushima seafood during the summit with President Yoon.
The official also expressed strong regret toward the Japanese media. The official added, "The behavior of the Japanese media is to throw out claims without any basis and quietly back down when proven false," and said, "We hope that Korean media will not exhibit such behavior." According to the Presidential Office, diplomatic authorities have labeled the Japanese media reports as 'distorted reporting' and have requested the Japanese government to prevent recurrence.
However, it was confirmed that the Fukushima seafood issue arose during a meeting where President Yoon met with Japanese politicians. The official explained, "We cannot disclose the specific details of what the two leaders discussed," and added, "Our government's position is clear. If there is anything that threatens the safety and health of the people, it will never be accepted. Scientific evidence and emotional aspects are important for resolving import restrictions."
On the same day, President Yoon presided over a senior secretaries meeting and mentioned the results of his visit to Japan, instructing, "Each ministry must make thorough follow-up efforts so that the public can feel the improvement and cooperation in Korea-Japan relations." In line with this, the government plans to send a diplomatic note to the Japanese government early this week to normalize the Korea-Japan General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA). This follows the official mention of GSOMIA normalization at the Korea-Japan summit on the 16th and the Ministry of National Defense sending a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs requesting follow-up measures.
A Presidential Office official described this measure as the "de facto first substantial achievement" after the summit and said, "Since the most important axis in Korea-Japan security relations is taking immediate normalization steps, it is expected that discussions will soon expand to various fields such as economy and culture." The Presidential Office plans to promptly inform the public of the results of the follow-up measures on GSOMIA normalization and intends to broaden the military cooperation will between Korea and Japan into the economic sector.
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