Newly appointed Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya spoke with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yeol for the first time since taking office, agreeing to closely cooperate on North Korean issues, Kyodo News reported on the 4th.
According to the report, Foreign Minister Iwaya confirmed during the call with Minister Cho that Japan, South Korea, and the United States will closely cooperate in responding to North Korea's nuclear and missile issues. Iwaya assumed office on the 1st.
At a press conference on the 2nd, he said about Japan-South Korea relations, "I am confident that close cooperation between Japan and South Korea will not only benefit both sides but also lead to stability and prosperity in the East Asian region," adding, "Japan-South Korea relations are a very important bilateral relationship, and I want to steadily develop it toward the future."
Foreign Minister Iwaya is classified as a moderate within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. When the Japan-South Korea patrol plane issue arose in December 2018 while he was Minister of Defense, he had conflicts with South Korea, but before stepping down as Minister of Defense in September 2019, he emphasized security cooperation between the two countries, stating that "Japan-South Korea and Japan-South Korea-U.S. alliances are very important."
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