Shigeru Ishiba, the new Prime Minister of Japan, will visit Laos from the 10th to the 12th to attend the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) related summit meetings.
According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun and others, Keichiro Tachibana, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary of the Japanese government, stated at a regular press conference on the morning of the 8th that Prime Minister Ishiba plans to hold talks with leaders of various countries during his visit to Laos. This is the first foreign visit by Prime Minister Ishiba since his inauguration on the 1st.
Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Tachibana did not specify which national leaders Ishiba would meet. In this regard, the public broadcaster NHK reported on the same day that "Prime Minister Ishiba is scheduled to meet with President Yoon Suk-yeol," and that "talks with Premier Li Qiang of China and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India are also being coordinated." If a Korea-Japan summit is realized, it will be the first face-to-face meeting between President Yoon and Prime Minister Ishiba since his inauguration. Previously, on the 2nd, President Yoon and Prime Minister Ishiba shared the recognition of the need for unity between Korea and Japan as well as among the trilateral alliance of Korea, the United States, and Japan during their first phone call.
During this visit, Prime Minister Ishiba is expected to attend the ASEAN Summit, the ASEAN+3 (South Korea, China, Japan) Summit, the East Asia Summit (EAS), and the summit of the Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC), which was established by Japan and ASEAN member countries for decarbonization. Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Tachibana said, "We will confirm strengthening cooperation with ASEAN as a reliable partner," and added, "We plan to strongly convey Japan’s position on regional and international affairs."
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